Well here it is the first Monday of March and true to Thunder Bay form----the snow is gently falling. What a beautiful morning! Joyce had some difficulties posting her comments from last week because she is adjusting to a new computer system. Too bad, because I love reading her comments---but at the same time God is in control of all of this. I have been discovering Satan's presence as well throughout this blog study---many times I have been tempted to put things off, to not concentrate, to fill my time with other things than God. Then---an old injury reared it's head making it impossible for me to fill my extra hours with piano rehearsal and physical exercise. Although I am in extreme discomfort I thank the Lord for this because once again He has got my attention when otherwise I might put meditating fully on His word on the "back burner".
For week 9 please look at Study 7 Repentance I Psalm 6 and 32. I am excited to get into the next phase after meditation---that of repentence. But I know we are all going to suffer a little as we contemplate our inadequacy. Continue to meditate on Christ as we dive into this.
6 comments:
Hey Kathy
God is very good at getting our attention. I would ask you ladies to pray for me. I can feel Satan working overtime and causing me to have many anxious thoughts. We are currently starting the conversion at work for the new software and my old boss is coming up tomorrow. He is very intense and can be demanding and not too nice. Please pray for me that I will remain calm but firm in what I can and cannot do. I need to remember that this is just a job. Who I am and my abilities do not rest in it.
Thanks so much ladies
I will certainly pray for you Laurie.
Ah, Laurie that is so very true ! You know I have been praying for you and will continue to do so . Yes, my dear , you do need to remember who you are as a child / woman of God , before anything else, so this particular job does not define who you are or the abilities you own. Remember also , who gave you those abilities and what you do with them is your choice . I do not believe God would have given them to you to work you into the ground .
you know i love you .
What would I do without you Kathy ?Thanks for the computer reminders .I was so pleased that the former message actually went . I have been working through these psalms and will come back here later .
Solitude and silence and their importance in our lives has been on my mind the last couple of days, especially as they lead me to a much greater awareness of God's presence within myself and played out in my everyday life . Why , when this is such a wonder and delight , do I not make more time for it ? This a.m. during a walk I was remembering one day last summer at the lake .I awoke to find the world totally socked in with very heavy snow white fog. I threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera and headed outside .What an awesome experience that a.m. was. The silence was beautiful . I could have been in another world . Very slowly ripples far out on the water began to be revealed and I was truly filled with the wonder of it all.The fingerprints of the Lord were all over it and I returned home totally refreshed with his presence.
Each time I have thought of it since ,I still feel the wonder which really encourages me . I guess it was the silence and solitude thinking that put it in my mind today . He has shown me the beauty of that so clearly and I talk to the women about it but I do not go there often enough myself . I do not understand the "why" of that .
We can get so very caught up in other things even if they are "good" things , that our relationship with the Lord suffers ....how sad that is as it colours everything else!
Joyce---you paint a very good picture of how it goes with our relationship with God. He does have to create "fog" in our lives to take our attention away from all the distractions. Kevin even pointed out this morning that we even get distracted from asking for forgiveness and in giving forgiveness. I am so thankful for my merciful Lord because He does not disicpline me in the way I deserve. Just as Moses appealled to Him to hold back His wrath from the Isrealites when they crafted the golden calf, He continues to withhold His wrath from me. I have a natural ability to get distracted and to place things and activities of this world quite high despite the knowledge that I should not have "idols". Prayer is such a necessity to keep grounded. This week's study was uplifting to me since the Psalmist seemed so distraught and yet confident in God and His wrath on enemies, but also mercy on His people.
Hi gals !
I am still pondering the study from last week. I like that reminder about the good and bad news of the bible , but I absolutey love the way Ps.6 ended with David "knowing" God had answered even though there was no concrete evidence .... but a certainty for the future . I love that beautiful statement of Kidner's that this "sudden evidence of confidence .....is a most telling evidence of an answering touch of God" . I see that as our own hearts lighting up with the knowledge of his presense within. How about that for "beholding the Lord " ? What an awesome Lord we serve ! My prayer for each of us this week is that we will know that touch of the Lord ...his presence ,and the assurance of his great love along with the grace upon grace he pours down upon us .
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