To Be

Friday, ‎September 1, ‎2023

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Memory verse: Philippians 4:8 ►Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.

Today's reading: PSALM 135-136 1 CORINTHIANS 12

To Be or Not To Be...A Sponge

I had a close relative tell me of her frustration when reading the scripture. She said she just does not 'get' what others do . She hears folks tell what they have read and what it means and she thinks there is more she should be seeing in the scripture and it really bothers her.

I know that she is not alone because I have heard this before from others. My mother would talk about it and 'worry out loud' about her life and so we talked. She said that her Sunday School teacher was always saying to her that 'God said this to me' or 'God told me that' and then Mama said, "God has never spoken to me like that".

I said, "You read your Bible everyday, right?". She said, of course she did and the I said, "Every word you read is God speaking directly to you..." She had a 'read though the Bible in a year' Bible and after her death I was looking through it and on the inside of the back page she had kept a list of the years she had completed. She had written down eighteen years. The woman who said God never spoke to her had read the complete Bible through 18 times. She did not say it like me but she had heard God talk to her a lot...for a long time.

There are professors of the Bible and famous Pastors and and writers and small Bible study teachers-none of them ever get the very same thing out of their study. We all hear God differently. That is the reason He made us different. That is more of His miraculous mercy and grace in our lives.

You may not be a teacher-but you love good teaching; you may not be able to extract from scripture the things others see in scripture-but you can be the greatest sponge in the room-to soak up all that God has said through others because you desire it. That desire manifests itself in real divine zeal that God builds in you to do what He has set before you to do.

So read and don't worry about what you don't get. If you do, you may miss what God is quietly saying. When God caused all the wind and the rocks to explode around Elijah, Elijah was hiding in a crack in the rocks-like a lizard. He was running from what he feared. After all that fury, this quiet voice from God asked, "Elijah, what are you doing here?".

A somewhat current song asks, "What are you listening to..is it rock music or soft music or a live band...what?"

There are alot of loud 'TV' voices that do it in the name of God. They look and sound as good as Solomon and it is easy to get overwhelmed. Just stop and be still and know He is God(Psalm 46:10).

God continues to speak in that still, small voice and He never leaves you-He is always right here.

Leave the worrying to the folks who are enemies of the cross...

...and keep listening patiently as you read and pray. God says all you need to hear.

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

I cannot deny You are here right now and forever. Forgive my worry. I will not stop listening.

Mighty God of the still, small voice,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen