My Daily Bible Reading
Today’s Life Journal Reading is from:
2 Corinthians 7,8,9,10
Scripture
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“ He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, 13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, 14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:6-16, New King James Version)
Observation:
I love the last part of this passage,” Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”. I heard that in church and even now, reading it again for today’s Life Journal, I love reading it now and saying a loud,”Amen”.
Listening to our pastor share about it, I kept thinking….wow…It’s always is and will be about Him; Take Him out and it seems, well, empty.
We’ve been feeling very convicted and led to volunteer in a ministry and not only that, but as we submit ourselves to that, felt ourselves, being encouraged, “…and what else…”; It seems when we allow one door to open, not by our will, but by His, we find that the windows fly open and we go, “…this isn’t enough…what ELSE can be done FOR Him” and just feeling the power of the Holy Spirit just prompting us to go, “what else” is amazing.
With it, naturally, it was hard not to be human too and think…but….what can I do?
The realization is that….we, as followers of Christ, have ministries around us, and constantly in action that anything we allow to be done in “…service to Him” becomes an act of worship and service to our Father in Heaven and a testimony to His word.
It’s not an, open at 8, close at 8 p.m., thing, it’s as constant 7 days a week, 24 hours ministry that doesn’t stop and when we trust Him, when we follow Him, when we have faith in Him and give control to HIM, everything becomes a ministry, because we allow Him, by submission, to use us and the gifts, HE, not us, but HE blessed us with, to be used in His name and glory.
Wow.
That’s just wow.
I’m not the best writer and I’m sure many of you can agree.
I am the most social awkward child of God and I know that can be agree hands down, and the funny thing to me is that, He finds a way to use it to His advantage and a lot of times, it means going out of my comfort zone and realizing, I’m not the one in control, He is.
Me.
I have to be willing to just allow Him to work in and through me and not try to dictate what I do, on my terms but rather openly and honestly, work on His terms.
I was reading 1 Samuel as a result of a devotion that I received in an email and you may have read my post about it, and it really just humbled me what happen to King Saul when, instead of listening to God or even Samuel, rather than be patient, decided he would just go out on a whim, on his terms and understanding and take control and the result that happen.
He even tried to find the next king, not based on what God was looking for, but on earthly terms and yet, there was David; a man after God’s heart, who didn’t fuss or argue, or get upset, but just waited.
Wait.
That’s a hard thing for many of us.
It’s a test of our self-control.
And what happens when we allow our emotions and lack of self-control get the better of us?
Disaster.
People get hurt and suffer.
And it’s a hard, broken road to travel back on.
God loves you. He loves us all.
It’s not about me.
It’s not about you.
It’s about Him.
This blog. Ha. Nothing if it wasn’t for Him.
I blog because this is a small part of my act of service to Him that I felt Him call me to; I still remember that day. He wanted me out of my comfort zone.
He wanted me to not think it was okay to be shy and reserve and not share my faith, but instead challenge me to take the steps to walk out and go, this is how I feel about Him.
It’s scary.
The risk of exposure, the fact that it means, I can’t fluff up the pillows to make me comfortable, but to willingly lay this blog, what I write, what I believe, what I am, in His hands and take the good with the bad (and pray that the bad can be not so bad…lol).
But it goes down to simple service to and for Him.
There is someone out there, who once was lost and maybe seeking to be found and if not by me, maybe by a blog link I share, or by visiting or reading a person’s comment, that one seed, just one seed can be planted and prayfully grown, that is a blessing…to Him.
And to Him only.
When we serve at church, it’s not to gain notice, but prayers, that maybe, someday, not now, maybe not now, but maybe in the future, we may not even be around to see, someone, somehow, somewhere, would be blessed by His word and His word only and come to know what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to come to call Him, Father, Abba.
It’s a dare that if we dare to call ourselves, followers of Christ, we can not pick and choose whom we love, just as our Heavenly Father, does not pick or choose whom He loves, but calls to all, to renounce their sin, to come to Him and accept His grace and to be saved, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Application:
I feel challenge to not feel fear or timidity, for our Heavenly Father does not call us to be afraid, but to be strengthen and embolden by His word to share His word and share Him to those who have yet to call Him,”Lord and Saviour”.
It is an encouragement to not share our words, based on a changing and fickle word, but on the solid, rock foundation of our Heavenly Father and take the good with the bad and not just seek the good. He sought us, even in the darkest of the storms in our lives and offers us hope and redemption.
We are His ambassadors and His lighthouse to the truth. It serves ships, who are floundering at sea, no comfort, if we selectively choose where we shine our light, but instead challenge ourselves, to share our light with all and with the same that He has shown and to let all know, it’s Him…it’s all about Him.
Prayer:
Lord, I am grateful You are my Lord and Saviour and that in Your truth, You broke the chains that sin has bound us with and grasp our hands with Yours and leads us to redemption and grace.
Lord, I pray and hope You keep challenging us and convicting us to move beyond comfortable and out of our comfort zone and challenge us to share Your word and to be in service to You in all we do.
Thank You Heavenly Father, Thank You Abba, Thank You.
Amen
****Purpose of this post****
Gentle Readers, There are days that I will read a verse or passage and just feel pulled to share here, but there are days when I will read something and just feel, I need to spend the day, in personal contemplation of what is being convey and may just post via Twitter, what passages I have read that day and post nothing on here.
That is what bible reading is about; It’s not about having to write something down everyday; There maybe days when you are reading say, Numbers and it’s just lineages, but other days, you may find yourself dealing with a “powerhouse verse” of the moment and have to just go “WOW” and seek God in personal time and prayer to understand what He is sharing.
I will try to post daily, but particularly on weekends, if I’m sick or I’m just completely in awe of what I’m reading or maybe I am trying to understand what I am reading, I may not post here, I may just write in my Life Journal (hardcopy), because I will find myself having to seek His Word and/or the Commentary and just seek in prayer to understand what our Father in Heaven is seeking to reveal.
Either way.
Reading His Word, is about getting to know Him better and developing your Christian growth and maturity. Do what is right and good for you.
If you do use the Life Journal and participate in the daily readings, I would like to hear from you and your perspective on each day’s reading, when I do have a post up, or feel free to comment on a previous “Daily Bible Reading post” or send me a quick email.
Please feel free to join in the linky that I post below, so others too, who uses the Life Journal/or SOAP method to read the bible can participate.
Don’t feel obligate to have to blog about each passage to be read, but if anything, feel free to share those passages that have the most impact on you that day.
There maybe some days that you may read your daily reading and find nothing to jot down in your journal or on your blog and that’s okay, but there maybe other days, that you will find yourself inspire.
This is about you being encouraged to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, and spending each day with Him, You and Him.
It is my prayer and hope that this will be an encouragement to establish a personal daily reading as well.
To find out more about using the S.O.A.P. method, here’s a link to an ehow article and here’s the link to the Life Journal to find out more what it is, and how you can use it for your own daily bible readings. If you don’t want to order the journal or if it’s not available through your local church, another method is simply, buy a journal or notebook or even blog about your life journal readings.
Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with the church that the link goes to, but merely share it as a resource of what the Life Journal is, how to order it.
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