I'm posting yesterdays reading a day late. It was my 10th anniversary so I didn't have time once I got home after the movies to sit down and write a post. It was midnight when we finally got home. I'm sure you can forgive me. As an aside - Happy Anniversary to me!!! Yesterday in general I had this exhausted feeling like I didn't want to do anything. My phone was dead so my alarm didn't go off. I thought hubby had put it on the charger overnight, but apparently not. At least I didn't break any traditions with this challenge- my kids were still up before me. Tell me again why I'm getting up earlier than my kids to get into God's word? Not only that, tell me how much earlier I have to get up because honestly, I thought 6:30 would do it and I was wrong. I don't think I can do much earlier that than. Think back to my first post when I mentioned that anything before 10 am was too early for me. As it was I could barely lift my head off my pillow to realize that I had forgotten my bible in the car because I was at youth the night before. I ended up reading John 5 on my phone - a bad idea. I don't think I got much from it. John 5 starts with the pool a Bethesda. We meet an invalid man who wants to be healed and apparently the first person into the pool on day the water is stirred gets just that. Jesus looks at the man and tells him to pick up his mat and walk. Now keep in mind that this man had been in his invalid state for 38 (thirty-eight!) years and just by believing what Jesus says and being obedient he's healed. Boom! Mic-drop! Just like that. Oh yeah! I'll admit the believing is the easy part once you see what Jesus can do in someone's life... it's the obedience I have a problem with. Not because it's Jesus, but because Jesus wants us to change and to change we need to struggle and who wants that? But I try my best to stay close to Him and listen for his gentle nudging. I should mention that Jesus healing took place on the Sabbath. The only reason that the Pharisees noticed was because the man was walking and carrying his mat. I'm sure they had seen him around. Maybe they snubbed him, maybe they took pity on him. Perhaps it was both. They are a large group after all. It was more that he was carrying his mat. A big no, no on the Sabbath. You weren't supposed to do anything, even make a coffee. It was a day of complete and total rest. So, if they have a problem with this man carrying his mat you can just imagine how upset they're going to be when they realize that Jesus performed a miracle enabling the man to walk- on the Sabbath. This is the first real encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees in the book of John. The one where Jesus points out that he the Son of God, sent by the Father. Well, we all know how this ends. I didn't really take a whole lot away from this reading. Like I said before, Friday wasn't a great day for me in terms of alertness. It took about 2.5 hours at work for me to even get going. I'm talking, really dragging my arse. But for not taking much away during the day, it was worth it to take a second look while writing up this post.
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Ack!! I thought I set my alarm for this morning and I totally didn't!! No wonder I heard my kids talking. I thought it was just another day of them being weird, but no, it was my mistake. Although, truth be told, 7:00 am is still too early for Honey. My loving husband rolled over, put his arm around me and said "if you're going to do your bible reading you'd better wake up". Then he crawled out of bed to take care of the kids. How awesome is that!?
John 4 starts off with Jesus leaving Judah and returning to Galilee after the arrest of John the Baptist. I know this because it says so in my study bible. He deliberately avoids confrontation with Pharisees. I wouldn't say he ran away, but knew that greater things needed to happen and it wasn't his time to entwine himself with them just yet. Today's reading is one of my favourite stories of the bible, the Samaritan woman at the well. I mean, any time Jesus interacts with women I automatically pay a bit more attention because it's just something that was unheard of. Something else to be noted that is that because she was Samaritan alone was a reason for a Jewish person not to speak to her. Right off the bat, from a cultural stand point of the time she had two strikes against her. Now, take a look at when she was at the well - noon. Most women of the time would go to the well in the morning for a couple reasons - it wasn't so hot and to socialize with each other. She avoided going to well when others were there at the cost of her personal comfort. She hadn't lived a great life and was now living with a man who wasn't even her husband. You can bet tongues were wagging about her, poor thing. Then she meets Jesus and he tells her about her life. Not only that, he tells her about the living water that she could have. I mean, can you imagine- you're trying to avoid people, and when you come to the well there's Jesus just lounging there looking for a drink, then he tells you about spiritual life and how to be saved. Man, what an experience. When the disciples come back they see Jesus talking to this woman and are all shocked and stuff. Like, come on guys, this is Jesus we're talking about. He doesn't need earthly food to satisfy him. He is fed by the spirit. He is the wellspring of life. Stop worrying about the harvest and start reaping. Isn't that what we, as follower of Christ, should be doing? Sow the good news and bring people to Jesus to gain eternal life. As a result of this encounter with the woman at the well many Samaritans believed. She shed her shame and ran and told people about her encounter. I wish I could do that. Reach out to people that had mocked me and said terrible things about me and share so openly and excitedly about the wonderful new of Jesus. The reading finishes with Jesus healing the Centurion's son. This is an underrated story, I think. I always just gloss over it and I pretty much did today. One thing caught my attention though. Jesus didn't go to the son, and the son was healed. All the centurion did was say he believed and his son was healed. How cool is that! It's kind of like you and me. If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths, we will be given eternal life. I'm going to be honest. I didn't think a whole lot about today's reading and no passages really jumped out at me like yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I saw that it was the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and I was pretty excited about that. Overall though, I didn't really underline anything, just made some notes along the side as pertained to the cultural history. I didn't find myself rethinking about it during the day, or recalling it to ponder it more. I did however, still bring up John 3:30 and at youth group this evening I could attach the message to that verse so easily. I look forward to Thursday evenings because of our youth group- high school students. I'm one of the leaders. I can be exhausted from work, but when I get there it's like getting a second wind. I genuinely love getting to know the kids and I'm very open about my past with them. Sort of like a - here's how NOT to act testimony. It's an amazing 2 hours of my week and sometimes it can carry me through the week. I love it. One last note about this morning. As I rushed around trying to get ready and realizing that I wouldn't have enough time eat breakfast another coincidence entered the picture. I didn't have to leave my house for an additional half an hour. I was able to have breakfast and head out the door in loads of time. Sorry no pictures this evening. I wrote this post almost past my bed time, or so my iPhone tells me. Join me on this challenge and share your experience. Take some time to go over my previous posts about it and let me know how your days went. I'd love to hear from you. I'm going to be all serious here for a minute... I think my kids are against me. I'm serious! When I started this challenge I thought I'd have no problem. Especially with my daughter, my son I could deal with, but I figured she'd just sleep in because that's what she always does. Never in all my imaginings did I think she'd wake up before me at 6:30 in the morning!!! I think there are other things working against me here, maybe of the spiritual nature. I will continue on though! This morning I used "How Can it Be" by Lauren Daigle as my ringtone and I have to say that it worked a lot better. I had to take a second look when I saw Honey on the computer though. B-Man was still sawing logs and she was up. It was hardly fathomable. Not only that, she was ready for school. Great wonders never cease. Be that as it may, I had to read John 3 on my bed. Which is extremely hard for me because at 6:43 in the morning (yeah that's right I got out of bed faster when I woke up earlier) all I want to do is crawl back under the covers. I found out that this morning's reading was the most influential for me yet. It starts with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, going to see Jesus at night. Why? Maybe he was afraid? Maybe he didn't want to be seen "switching sides". That's what I think anyway, perhaps I'm wrong, but why else do people do things at night unless they have something to hide? Yet, even as a Pharisee, Nicodemus didn't get it. "How do I become born again?" (paraphrase) he asked Jesus. In his talk with Nicodemus Jesus makes the statement that most Christians, and even some people who aren't know - John 3:16 For God so loved the world he gave his one and only son, for whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. But what really struck me in my reading today wasn't verse 16 or even 17 it was verse 30. He must become greater; I must become less. Wow, that is some really amazing stuff. I thought about that one all day. How can I do things so that Jesus becomes greater than what I want? How would you do things so that Jesus is greater than your desires? Follow along with me in this challenge and share how it impacts your day. I was back at it again this morning. I'm no two-day-quitter! (I usually wait at least a week) I found out that the update on my iPhone came with this bedtime thingy, that's a technical term. So I utilized it last night. Essentially 15 minutes before bed there is a chime telling me it's just about bedtime. How sweet! Then there is a wake up after the number of hours you want to sleep. On average an adult should get 8 hours of sleep a night. That's nice, but clearly not realistic. My kids/husband/pets wake me up constantly, but I went with the suggested time. Unfortunately I couldn't choose a ringtone so I still had to make an alarm. I took my suggestion from yesterday and put worship music as my ringtone. A little "Oceans - Where Feet May Fail" anyone? It's my current favourite. However, after all my careful planning and setting alarms my loving son woke up before me this morning, he's 6. He had already woken me up before my alarm. FYI - I hate that. I want to sleep to the very end. Even if I have to wake up to go to the bathroom and it's 15 minutes before my alarm goes off, I will go back to bed. Anyway, my alarm scared him so I didn't get to hear the worship music, I just heard his chatter about how terrified he was.
Click, there's that lightbulb moment. But the most interesting part to me was when I read the commentary for the 21 Day challenge and it stated to me that the reason Jesus did in fact complete this miracle is told to us almost instantly. I never really noticed that, and sometimes when I'm reading things, I don't actually mull over the details. That's why it's nice to have a study bible or a study aid. It makes your brain work. It says right in verse 11 - and his disciples believed in him. Jesus performed this miracle for the benefit of his disciples.
Before I go on to the second chapter... a joke: Cop: Ma'am, what in your glass? Woman: Water Cop: Ma'am, that's not water, that's wine. Woman: Jesus did it again!! It's okay... you can laugh. Or roll your eyes and groan. Onwards! The second part of John 2 involves Jesus going into the temple and upending all the people selling things and the money changers. He lets loose the cattle and sheep and scatters the money all over. When he's confronted by the Jews about proving who he is he tells them that if they "Destroy this temple [he] would raise it again in 3 days." In hindsight.... mind.... blown. At the time, not a very gracious answer, something about how long it took to build the temple. You silly people, he wasn't talking about the actual temple! Another to note about this passage - this is Jesus angry! He makes a whip people! He overturns tables. He is angry. Anger is a natural emotion that we should have, but never abuse. Therein lies the challenge. The verse that really stuck out to me was John 2:25 - He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. (NIV) But when I read it in the NLT, I didn't like how it was worded at all - No one needed to tell him what mankind was really like. What struck me was how the NIV makes it sound like he knows us intimately, what's deep in our hearts and he does. I mean, he knows what we're thinking before we think it, right? I just found that the NLT made it clipped and less relational and I didn't like that. Some things to consider for tomorrow -
That last one seems like it makes tons of sense but I rarely do it! I think it's time I started then will have the right mindset to dive in. I didn't notice any huge changes. I'm going through a change in my life where I'm working and I'm definitely the bottom of the totem pole. Same industry, pharmacy, but so much more different. I feel like a lost little sailboat trying to navigate the great big sea. I don't like this feeling and it's hard to overcome it. Today I didn't feel any different, unlike yesterday. I didn't notice myself bringing anything I read up again and mulling it over throughout the day. Perhaps tomorrow, or even a year from now. Who knows? Join me in the 21 Day Challenge and share your experiences. Lately I have been having this niggling feeling that there is something missing from my every day routine. It's been there ever since I went camping with the youth group. For a while afterwards I made an effort to complete a devotion or read something related to bible teaching when I woke up. But, like all good intentions, it dwindled down and sputtered out. You know how sometimes you want to do something, you just don't know where to start? That's where I was. I knew deep down that if I wanted to be serious about reading my bible I had to make some changes - like getting up before my kids so I could spend time with my bible. This may not seem like much to parents of teenagers, but my kids wake up early. Granted, I believe that any time before 10 am is early. Clearly I have not grown out of my teenaged sleeping habits, and I had no desire to. Until now... To recap - I have a desire deep within me to spend more time with God. I know that the morning is the best time. Thus --> I need to become a morning person. I just want to take the time to point this out. Apparently it takes 21 days to make something a habit. There are 21 chapters in John. Coincidence? I think not! I accepted the challenge from Back to the Bible. Lord, help me complete it. Help me get up early every morning to spend time with you. Amen. SO! I tried to go to bed early last night, but ended up finally getting there at 11pm. Ugh! First step and I'm already behind the eight ball. Second, I set my alarm for 7am. For those of you still with me, that's 3 hours BEFORE my definition of "early". When my alarm went off this morning I hit snooze, twice. Finally I hauled my arse out of bed at 7:18. My daughter greeted me with a sleepy "good morning mommy". Double ugh! But, this one has a silver lining. My daughter is seeing me make an effort to get into God's word. She is witnessing me reading my bible. Not such a bad "ugh" in the end. I started reading John 1. Instantly I notice the reference to the light and mark down in my bible *Jesus*. I'm a bible markin', highlightin', underlinin' momma. I want my bible to look like I used it. In my first bible I have passages written on the first 2 blank cover pages that made an impact on me during that time of my life. I have now graduated to the Beautiful Word Journaling bible. It's pictures bring the bible to life and I love that I can write along as I read. Coincidently, I went back to the actual challenge during the evening and noticed how it focused on the names that Jesus was called and challenged me to make a list of the descriptive names of Jesus. So here goes:
Tomorrow I may add some nice soft worship music. I think that may add to the mood. Or, I could even wake up to worship music. I don't have an alarm clock, I have an iPhone, so I can pretty much make my alarm anything I want. On this first day did I notice any huge changes? Not overly. Does anyone ever? I'm glad I started. I hope I can finish and keep going. I can truthfully say that when I felt a little down today, my thoughts did go to Jesus and I didn't feel so alone in the moment. Maybe you can start noticing changes on the first day. Why not join me on this journey and share your experience? I'd love to hear from you! |
AndreaYou know the saying, the grass is always greener on the other side? This is my attempt to find greener grass right where I am in my life.
BTW - I'm the one on the right, just in case you didn't already know that. Categories
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