Friday, September 14, 2018

The B-I-B-L-E

I was talking to a friend the other day about the best selling book of ALL time & wanted to share some of these “fun facts.”

There are actually over 100 million copies of this book sold each year, and many households report having 3-4 in their home.

Yes- I’m talking about the Bible. This has been my Bible for the last 11 years and it is one of my greatest treasures.

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There are 66 books in the Bible. There are two main divisions- Old Testament (made up of 39 books), which was written before Jesus’ life on earth, & the New Testament (made up of 27 books), which were written after Jesus’ life, ministry, death, & resurrection. These books were written by approximately 40 men over a 1600 year span (from 1500 BC to 100 AD). The books of the New Testament were written within 100 years of Christ’s death by disciples…Men who knew/encountered Jesus or served closely with him. There was also a 400 year time frame between the OT and NT where they didn’t hear from God (often referred to as the years of silence)until the angel spoke to Mary.

40 different authors /writers...from all different backgrounds...over a 1600 year time period...and the theme is the same throughout. It is SO powerful seeing prophecies fulfilled, & I don’t see any other explanation besides “Well that was God.” (If you’ve never read John Bevere’s book called “Good or God,” I think it’s chapter 4 ? that has some really fascinating thoughts on the “chances” & probabilities of the specific details of those prophecies actually being fulfilled in the way they were...mind boggling numbers/statistics that I believe can only point you back to Jesus.)

There are 8 major themes of the Bible.
1. Creation
2. Brokenness
3. Promises
4. Redemption
5. Law
6. Rebellion
7. Grace
8. Eternity

Most of the Bible is not organized chronologically, but rather grouped by like kind. The first five books of the Old Testament are the “Books of the Law.” The next 12 books (Esther - Job) are “history books” known as narratives. Job is considered by many to be a “wisdom book” & Psalms through Song of Solomon are the “poetry books.” Isaiah through Malachi are “the prophets.” The first 5 (Isaiah - Daniel) being considered ‘major prophets’ and final 12 books in the OT (Hosea - Malachi) referred to as the ‘minor prophets.’

In the NT, the first four books are “the gospels.” Matthew was written thematically, & Mark, Luke & John were written chronologically. The book of Acts is considered a “history book,” and the book of Romans begins the letters/epistles. Revelation is the 27th book of the New Testament, and definitely one of its own kind...a book of prophecy.

Here are a few of my favorite verses about the Word of God.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” - 2 Tim 3:16

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” - Isaiah 40:8

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” - Psalm 119:105

The Bible is transformative when you apply it in your life. The Word never returns void. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve read a particular verse or passage...God always has something new to show us. It won’t change us if we are simply a ‘hearer of the word’ thorough...because that is just ink on pages. The power lies when we allow the Lord to speak to us, mature us, and mold & shape our hearts & as we become ‘doers of the Word.’

I am so grateful to have the freedom to be able to freely read & study my Bible. And my prayer is the the Lord gives us all an overwhelming hunger & desire to study it, meditate on & pray the Scriptures over our lives, and learn the character of God so we can become more like him. It is SO rich, so interesting, & so powerful. It is the best “self help,” inspirational, parenting, finance, work, marriage, leadership book there is. It has a remedy for every ailment, and a solution for every issue. Yes, even though times are different, we can still apply the wisdom of this book. If we will just FOLLOW it, He gives us the equation for “success.”

What a gift He has given us in His Word!! There is just nothing like it.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

What’s In Your Cup?

Love this analogy. I needed to hear this today and I thought someone else might, too.

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You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

"Well because someone bumped into me, of course!"

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was COFFEE IN YOUR CUP.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have SPILLED TEA.

*Whatever is INSIDE your cup is what will spill out.*

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you WILL come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

*So we have to ask ourselves... “What's in my cup?"

When life gets tough, what spills over?
Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility?
Or anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions?

You choose!

Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.

Being Offended

{My sweet friend Christi Johnson shared this and it was just too powerful not to pass along. I have seen so much destruction happen as a result of people being offended and acting on it. It’s at the root of many broken relationships & arguments. I truly belivee it is a tool in the enemy’s toolbelt to cause division. While we should never be seeking to purposely offend people, I think it’s even more important to focus on how we respond when we feel offended. This is an area where the Lord has matured me tremendously, and I am so thankful for His work in my life in this area. Of course we have never “arrived,” so I am still working and this was such a great reminder for me. Hope it is for you too!}

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OFFENSE

Every day, we are presented with multiple opportunities to get offended. It can be as minor as someone cutting us off in traffic or stealing our parking spot. Other times we can feel deeply hurt by a friend's rude or harsh comment.

What many people don't know is that offense is one of Satan's greatest tools to steal our peace and rob us of God's blessings.
The word "offense" comes from the Greek word scandalon. It is an interesting word that literally describes a trap used to hold bait in order to lure animals.

Similarly, offense is the bait the enemy uses to trap us. He will use people's words and actions to get our minds churning and stir up our emotions. He uses this bait to lure us into a lifetime of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, strife, hatred and revenge.

I often say that Satan sets us up to get us upset. He knows our weaknesses and what buttons to push to send us over the edge.
The good news is we are smarter than our enemy because we have the mind of Christ! (See 1 Corinthians 2:16.) We can know the truth of God's Word and don't have to take his bait.
In other words, when somebody tries to give you offense, you decide whether you take it or not.

You may be thinking, Christi, it's so hard not to take offense sometimes! I understand how you feel, but we can refuse to be offended because God gives us self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). This means we can control ourselves with God's help and take responsibility for how we respond to life's situations.

It's easy to deflect our problems and place the responsibility on someone else, thinking, If you didn't upset me, then I wouldn't feel this way or If you would just do this, then I would be happy.

But the truth is we will never be free from any problem as long as we're blaming somebody else. I'm not saying other people don't do anything wrong; however, we can't control what everyone else does, but we can choose how we are going to react!

First Corinthians 13:5 says love "is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs" (NIV). Love is a choice! I can choose to forgive and let it go, or I can hold on to the offense and let the hurt turn into something even worse.

For example, sometimes an offense starts out like a paper cut. It's seemingly small, but if you don't take care of it properly, it can begin to fester. In time, it can become infected and cause you a lot of pain.
I can tell you from experience that it's so much better to take care of a problem when it's little. It's good to address it as quickly as possible before it has an opportunity to take root and turn into something more serious.
I've learned that the quicker I can forgive somebody, the easier it's going to be. Sometimes this means being the first one to apologize and make peace — even if it's not my fault!

However, the more we do the right thing, the easier it gets. The quicker I forgive others and get rid of any offense, the more peace I have in my life. After a while, you realize that staying offended doesn't change other people or solve your problems — it only makes you bitter and angry.

I often say that staying mad at someone who has hurt you is like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die. You don't hurt them at all — you only hurt yourself!

Psalm 34:14 tells us to "seek peace and pursue it" (NIV). I've learned over the years (many times the hard way) just how valuable God's supernatural peace really is.


Now, I absolutely refuse to live without it!
It is so much greater than living with the toxic results of holding unforgiveness in my heart.

Opportunities to be offended will never go away, but we can grow wise to the enemy's tactics and learn how to respond in a godly way.

So, the next time you are tempted to be offended, don't take the bait!

Always remember that you have a choice. You can choose to be angry and bitter ... or you can decide to forgive, believe the best of others, and enjoy God's supernatural peace.

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