The importance of reading God's word.

So in our college group we are going to start diving into spiritual disciplines which are things like, solitude, fasting, praying, and reading God's word. Yesterday a text message brought to light to me one reason why God's word is so crucial to our faith. There are many reasons why it's so important but I want to share the one thing from yesterday. So I had a friend text me to tell her something good. So I responded "Jesus loves you:) " then her response was what triggered this thought. She responded by saying that she knows and it's not because the Bible tells her so:) Now I know that she knows that Jesus loves her and that she loves Him right back with all her heart. As I started to read that again that response wasn't sitting right with me. Just so you know I know she was being funny with her response and that she meant no wrong in it but I couldn't help what was going through my head. I thought to myself that the only reason why we know that God loves us is because the Bible tells us so. Anything we know about God, the ways He loves us, cares for us, and all those other wonderful things about God, we only know them because that's what the Bible tells us about God. I'm not saying that God doesn't give us understanding on issues but I do believe everything we know and need to know about life and God are in His word.
I want to leave with this, I believe that reading the word isn't mandatory it's only a benefit. Look at it like this; every try putting something complicated together without the directions? You can take all the pieces out of the box, lay them all out then throw the directions away and go at it. Half way through it you get stuck, frustrated, and are ready to give up. Then finally hours later you have it all together but you notice there are pieces left over and now your not sure if its going to hold up. God's word are those directions to this complicated thing we call life. Yeah we can get through it but it would have been way easier to just follow the directions which would have saved us struggle, frustration, pain, and wanting to give up. So if your tired of barely making it through life or not even sure how to get through life then pick up the instruction manual and see what God has mapped out for you.
So my prayer for us today is that we would discipline ourselves to read God's word daily. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Very detailed.

So I was reading Exodus 25-26 this morning and I believe the Lord spoke to me through these chapters. I've read these chapters before. These chapters are filled with God giving specific details for building the Arch of the Covenant and the tabernacle of the Lord. God was so detailed in His directions for building these things. It just wasn't where to build them but it was how they should be built and exactly what it should be made out of. Every dimension and every material God told them how to build these things. At first when I read this I kind of just thought of how boring it was to just read detail after detail but then I believe my mind was opened to see how God can and does operate. I know that we ask God for to reveal His will for our lives or we might ask God to show us the ways we should go. I know for most of those times God doesn't reveal these things with such detail but then again there are those times that He does. I believe that this spoke to me because I have been asking God to guide me in certain areas of my life but I've kind of been just expecting God to just help me through these areas but not really expecting clear detailed things. Maybe you are in the same boat as me? Maybe we are waiting for God to give us direction and maybe it's going to be very detailed, who knows? This is one thing that I hold onto and you should too, whether God gives you specific details or just kind of helps you navigate where to go, His ways are always better. I believe this portion of scripture was just renewing my faith when it comes to the area of trusting in God to show me where to go and what to do. I'm super thankful that God is so good and so faithful.
So my prayer for us today is that we would just continue to place all our hope and faith in the Lord. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Is God your Lord?

I looked up the definiton of the word lord and one of the definitions said someone who has power or control over others. Today I read something in my devotional which was talking about Jesus being Lord over our lives. I know its easy as Christians to just say yes to that question without even thinking about that answer. But my devotional really got me to think about my answer. Is Jesus Lord over my life? A better way to put this; Is Jesus Lord over everything in my life? When it comes to saying Jesus is Lord over my life it's easy to just say yes because we know He's Lord over everything. But this idea of Him being Lord over everything in our lives isn't something that just automatically happens. By saying Jesus is the Lord of our life we are saying that we made a conscious decision to allow God to fully reign over our lives. What I read today broke this down better. It was talking about giving all the keys to our hearts, souls, minds, and all the rest of the areas of our lives. When can't just give God some of the keys, He needs them all. I know the thought of submitting everything to Him is a scary thought but it's the best thing that we could do. God know's exactly what we need and He knows what best for us.
So my prayer for us today is that we would give God total control of our lives. I pray that we would release all our hopes, dreams, and concerns to Him and let Him work everything out for the better. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Why did God do that?

Todays entry is something that I have been thinking about these past couple days because I have been reading the account of Moses and Pharaoh. The thought that has been running through my head was how come God hardened Pharoah's heart some many times? I understand the concept that God would harden his heart so that God's power would be known but then I thought to myself why some many times? The things that God did to Egypt were pretty gnarly and I'm just thinking out loud but I think they would have gotten the point after the first few things God did. Instead God repeatedly keeps hardening Pharoah's heart. As I sat with this question these past couple days, now I'm starting to come up with an answer. My answer is the same answer I get when it comes to gnarly questions like this which is I Don't Know!!! I really have no idea why God would choose to do this. The coolest thing that has happened when thinking about this is I believe God is trying to tell me something which I want to share with you. I feel like God is telling me don't worry about what or how He does something, just know that He's in control. Now that might sound harsh but it's so true and actually to me it's freeing. I know I could just waist so much time on wondering why God would choose to do something I have no idea why. This first thing that pops into my head is the story of Job when Job is complaining and wondering why God would do this to him then God puts him in his place for like 3 chapters. I feel that's what God would say to us too. I believe when it comes to this idea of wondering why God would do something that doesn't make sense to us, we need to be put in check just like Job. We need to realize that God is in control, His ways are not our ways, and that He has our best interests.
So my prayer for us today is that we would be more trusting in the Lord. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.