Psalm 119:15, "I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. 18, Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. 33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart."
"God give us a burning, blazing zeal for Your holy Word!" If we could only see our life down the road if we did not read the Word of God, verses us reading the Word of God, we would never miss a day!
Genesis 28-29: I enjoyed being able to see more of Jacob's personality here. In Genisis 28:16-17 Jacob awoke from his sleep having been given a vision and spoken to by God in amazement and excitement saying, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!" So he took the rock on which he set his head upon and made a pillar, pouring oil over it and called that place Bethel. So he said if the Lord provided for him and guided him, He would make Him his Lord. So God continued to show himself to Jacob. He lead him to Rachel and when he realized who she was, he impulsively kissed her! Jacob got a dose of his own medicine because Laban said he would give his daughter Rachel to Jacob to wed if he worked for him for 7 years, but when the 7 years came, he teicked him into marrying Leah, the older daughter and Jacob had to work another 7 years for Rachel. We see Jacob was determined! And he continued working for Laban another 7 years after, so he was hardworking and loyal, also forgiving. I love to see God's grace and compassion for Leah in Genesis 29 when He knew she was not loved by Jacob so He opened her womb, but did not open Rachel's. He opened her womb and showed His love for her, giving her a son many times, but all she could see was her desire for her husband to love her and totally missed the love God had for her! Finally, when having the last son, she praised the Lord! I think that's how we can be definitely. We desire the approval and validation of others and we want what we want so much that we can't see God's plan for us or His love for us. Seeing the blessings He has already given us! Oh, how He loves us!!!
Acts 14: Here we see Paul and Barnabas going all over the place preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church growing, but not without tribulation as Paul said in Acts 14: 22..." We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God". Paul was telling the disciples that because he had been stoned- he understood that risking his life was a part of spreading the gospel. Though he was stoned, he continued on and didn't stop. He was willing to lay down his life. That's a question we have to ask ourselves- what would I be willing to risk for Christ? Would I be willing to lose my life? Am I willing to have some reject it/or me if I share the gospel with them? That's how serious it is that God wants everyone to be presented with the truth of the gospel. We see in Acts 14, that there were many who accepted Christ, some who misunderstood, and some who just flat out rejected it, but the truth was shared. It was then, their choice of what to do with the gospel from that point on. We have to remember that not everyone is going to beleive, but if we share the gospel with someone and it's rejected, to not be discouraged in sharing the gospel, keep sharing. "Kick the dust off our feet" and keep sharing. Sometimes it's just planting the seed that will later on grow.
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Psalm 119:15, "I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. 18, Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. 33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart."
"God give us a burning, blazing zeal for Your holy Word!" If we could only see our life down the road if we did not read the Word of God, verses us reading the Word of God, we would never miss a day!
Genesis 28-29: I enjoyed being able to see more of Jacob's personality here. In Genisis 28:16-17 Jacob awoke from his sleep having been given a vision and spoken to by God in amazement and excitement saying, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!" So he took the rock on which he set his head upon and made a pillar, pouring oil over it and called that place Bethel. So he said if the Lord provided for him and guided him, He would make Him his Lord. So God continued to show himself to Jacob. He lead him to Rachel and when he realized who she was, he impulsively kissed her! Jacob got a dose of his own medicine because Laban said he would give his daughter Rachel to Jacob to wed if he worked for him for 7 years, but when the 7 years came, he teicked him into marrying Leah, the older daughter and Jacob had to work another 7 years for Rachel. We see Jacob was determined! And he continued working for Laban another 7 years after, so he was hardworking and loyal, also forgiving. I love to see God's grace and compassion for Leah in Genesis 29 when He knew she was not loved by Jacob so He opened her womb, but did not open Rachel's. He opened her womb and showed His love for her, giving her a son many times, but all she could see was her desire for her husband to love her and totally missed the love God had for her! Finally, when having the last son, she praised the Lord! I think that's how we can be definitely. We desire the approval and validation of others and we want what we want so much that we can't see God's plan for us or His love for us. Seeing the blessings He has already given us! Oh, how He loves us!!!
Acts 14: Here we see Paul and Barnabas going all over the place preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church growing, but not without tribulation as Paul said in Acts 14: 22..." We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God". Paul was telling the disciples that because he had been stoned- he understood that risking his life was a part of spreading the gospel. Though he was stoned, he continued on and didn't stop. He was willing to lay down his life. That's a question we have to ask ourselves- what would I be willing to risk for Christ? Would I be willing to lose my life? Am I willing to have some reject it/or me if I share the gospel with them? That's how serious it is that God wants everyone to be presented with the truth of the gospel. We see in Acts 14, that there were many who accepted Christ, some who misunderstood, and some who just flat out rejected it, but the truth was shared. It was then, their choice of what to do with the gospel from that point on. We have to remember that not everyone is going to beleive, but if we share the gospel with someone and it's rejected, to not be discouraged in sharing the gospel, keep sharing. "Kick the dust off our feet" and keep sharing. Sometimes it's just planting the seed that will later on grow.