Strength For The Journey

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Zeal

“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11 (NIV)

Well, here we are, the final letter! Congratulations to all the bloggers who have made it from A to Z! For letter Z, I decided to write a sort of pre-reflection of my experience. I call it a pre-reflection because I plan on participating in the A to Z reflection posts next week. So, don’t worry, there’s more to come!

Dictionary.com defines zeal as “fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.” There are times when I feel zealous for the lessons God is trying to teach me and there are times when I feel a bit more apathetic. When I first learn something, I feel fired up and ready to share it with the world, but I am not good at expressing my feelings or enthusiasm around most people. I tend to hold everything in, and that is why I enjoy writing because it is a way to let it out. I have a zeal for writing and for writing about the things I am learning. But that mountaintop experience fades very quickly once I enter the real world away from the great preaching or teaching. It is in those moments of apathy that I must drive myself back into God’s Word and serve Him more diligently. I like the context of today’s verse in Romans 12:9-21. It includes some of the concepts I’ve brought up in this challenge: love, prayer, waiting (patience), forgiveness; and it follows the passage I used in my post about unity (Rom. 12:4-8). Writing about these, looking up the verses, and remembering what I’ve learned has been both convicting and motivating. It has also renewed my zeal for getting this blog up and running again, better than ever!

I am currently participating in the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 Challenge. My theme is life lessons from the Bible. You can find more information about the challenge by clicking on the badge to the right or click here for a list of participants. It has been an interesting experience so far and I have enjoyed finding and visiting other blogs. If you are a fellow participant, thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Yield

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Romans 6:13 (KJV)

In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised Land and divided it up among the tribes. Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep their promise very long. After Joshua died, we find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar cycle? We may be doing well, serving and seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately, we often give in to the sin. God sends retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully, we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our unrighteousness. But, as it says in Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Xerxes

“This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.” Esther 1:1 (NIV)

This post will actually be focusing more on Xerxes' wife, Esther. Esther is another one of my favorite books; her story is so inspiring. King Xerxes needed a new wife, so he conducted a search among the young single women in his kingdom, and a Jewish girl named Esther was chosen. Mordecai, her guardian and cousin, found out that Haman had persuaded King Xerxes to sign an edict to kill all the Jews. He asked her to plead with the king for mercy, but she said she could not approach him without being summoned or she could be sentenced to death. Mordecai replied, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NIV). Esther fasted and prayed for 3 days, then went to King Xerxes. After she talked with him, Xerxes overruled the edict and her people were saved. God put Esther in the right position for His will to be carried out and even though she was probably scared, she was willing to follow Him when the time came for her to take a stand. If you haven’t read through the book of Esther, I would highly recommend it because there are a lot more interesting details to her and Mordecai’s story.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Wait

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:14 (NIV)

Having patience with God and His plan is not easy. There are so many times when I feel stuck within my own weekly routine and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel in sight. It is those times when I must repeatedly remind myself that God has a purpose within the waiting. I think of my mom’s favorite verse, Isaiah 40:31: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (KJV). God uses the time of waiting to strengthen our faith and build our character. We should not be trying to manipulate things to move faster if we know that it’s against God’s will. Sometimes we think we know what should be done in our lives, but God may have something else in mind. If we continue to push for our own way, we may miss out on God’s best for us. James 5:7-11 talks about persevering in trials and mentions Job. Job lost everything and he remained faithful to God. After a time of trial, he was blessed with much more than he had before. Even though the road may seem never-ending, it is always better to wait on the Lord.

This topic really does come up a lot for me, God is still teaching me to be patient after 4½ years of blogging! So if you want to read more, The Waiting Game, addresses patience and I also link these 2 posts within that one: Fasten Seatbelts, Please and When Will This Chapter End?

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Vessel

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (KJV)

There are many times that Christians are compared to vessels, more commonly known as jars of clay. We are being formed at the potter’s wheel by the hands of the potter. Through trials and blessings God, the potter, is forming us into the people He wants us to become. Creating a vessel is a very long, thought out process. The piece must be shaped at the wheel and the potter’s hands must be in exactly the right position. So, if we try to get out from under God’s hands, we can end up deformed. However, as it says in Jeremiah 18:1-6, the potter can reform the marred pot. Once it’s shaped, in order to keep that shape it needs to be refined by fire. “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver” (Psalms 66:10, NIV). The fiery trials that we go through in life are God’s way of refining us so we can become more purified and stronger vessels. When we try to struggle against the potter’s hands or escape the fire, we must remember that God is using that process for our good.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Unity

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalms 133:1 (KJV)

When we live together in unity, it means we come together and unite for the cause of Christ. Each one of us has different gifts and we can use those gifts to serve the body of Christ. Romans 12:4-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 are both great passages about the various spiritual gifts. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12, NIV). Isn’t that an excellent analogy? We, the church, are like a body; many parts working together and each one has a different function within the body. I appreciate my pastor because he often points out the various roles fulfilled within our church. He has a humble attitude about his own position and points out those who are not often recognized. We come to church on Sundays and Wednesdays to find everything clean and the temperature is cool inside when it’s hot out and warm inside on cold days. It is like that because people are willing to give of their time to clean, and someone comes in early to adjust the thermostats to a comfortable temperature. It may not appear to be important, but it helps bring about better harmony and fellowship among the believers. We can each do what we can to bring glory to God and to unify the body of Christ. There is no role that’s too small, God can use anyone!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Trust

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I don’t have as much time to concentrate on this post as I would like. So, I thought I would share some verses about trusting God that help me through tough times. Because, God is with us and He knows the individual trials we each may be facing. We just need to trust Him and allow Him to work through those trials in life.

^“I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” Psalms 91:2 (KJV)

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:11-13 (KJV)

I hope everyone has a great Thursday and enjoy the letter T!