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Pamela
(last edited Feb 22, 2016 06:06PM)
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Feb 22, 2016 06:05PM
I carry a book with me everywhere I go. I love to read while waiting for medical appointments. I am like some of you, as I too, keep several books available all the time...actually more than several. I can have different moods to finish different books. I may be in to a romance, and a paranormal book at the same time. I also have written a full novel, but during that time frame..I raised children, and besides writing had little time for anything else...besides family needs.Werner..Your house sounds cozy..a small book nook with a bedroom and essentials..A Home!
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Actually, Pamela, it was SgoiltePrais who mentioned that her house was small. Ours is a older two-story building with (currently) three bedrooms --it had four, but one is now a wood shop. So it's not what you'd call cozy. (We like it, though! :-) )
Oh sorry I guess I misunderstood. Well my house is not large now We went to something easier when my husband retired. Any house no matter the size I think is measured by the love that makes it a home. I am sorry. For the mix up
No harm done, Pamela. Yes, "Any house no matter the size... is measured by the love that makes it a home." Such a beautiful thought, and so very true!.
Hello, so I know that this comment is not really on topic with what you were all discussing just now, but I'm looking for a little advice. I didn't really know which other thread to put it on.When I began reading the Bible in earnest last year - I mean, every day, several chapters from the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and New Testament - God's word truly felt like bread. The verses were delightful to me and I would get chills because of their power.
Now, as I'm more familiar with a lot of the content, I'm afraid they might have lost their potency. I can go through a chapter knowing what it's going to say already, but not really absorb its meaning. Kind of like "looking with your eyes, but not seeing". I know that I fall short of 99.9% of the commandments, but I don't have that same sort of wonder anymore - like what happens when you begin to know a book or movie so well the sad part doesn't make you cry anymore. How can I make God's word really really speak to me again?
Thanks in advance, Gloria
Gloria, this thread is the perfect place for your question. I read your post earlier, and haven't been ignoring it as such; I've just been trying to gather my thoughts as to what to say that would be constructive. Your experience is a pretty normal one for all of us who have read through the Bible at least once already, so that we no longer approach it as completely new. My advice would be to continue to read it faithfully and appreciatively, taking time to think about the meaning of what you're reading, even if you've read it before. True, much of what you're reading will be in the nature of a reminder, not something wholly new. But as the Apostle Peter noted, reminders of what we already know can be helpful and needed, too. And always recognize and be open to the possibility that serious study of the Bible may open up more of its meaning to you, even though you've read it before and thought you had a complete understanding; and that the Holy Spirit may apply the meaning to particular circumstances you're going through in new ways, even though you've read the same passage many times before. (I don't know if this is helpful at all; but I hope it is!)
Gloria. When I read my Bible, not as often as I should. I pray first that I may see the words as God intends me to use them in my life or situation Ministers can take a passage and yet each minister preaches it differently. God word is like that too. I have a habit of going to my favorite parts of the Bible. I know it well but not always the location , I hope this helps some. You are not alone in your feelings if people were honest The Bible is The word of our God, and should be studied. I too have times when I have sat down to read it and it puts me to sleep. Many have told me the same. I take several chapters instead of reading all of one book at a time it helps me stay focused.
Treating those passages as reminders of what we already know, being open to getting a more complete understanding depending on circumstances, and praying beforehand so that you can find them! Thank you, that's really good advice. Maybe even meditating on a verse or two for a whole day is better than a bigger chunk.
I think meditating on a verse or two for a day can be a very good approach, Gloria!
Hello Gloria,I recommend the "Believer's Bible Commentary" by William McDonald. A huge depository of resources for in-depth evaluation of each verse and many points most believers who are not theologians or apologetics buffs would likely know about.
I read my verses and then read the commentary to get a more comprehensive perspective. Very eye opening.
Testimony: Thursday, March 24, 2016All right, this is my first time ever making a testimony, and I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out, but here goes…
First of all, I’m not schizophrenic or anything, but I’m sure that many of you know that often a phrase or quotation that you’ve seen before will resurface in certain situations. Like having a convenient one-way dialogue with the great minds of the past.
Secondly, although it is cliche to talk about college applications and my personal growth during the process, I’ve been blessed enough to live a very placid and uneventful life, and have never been tested in truly difficult situations. Not that I consider these applications and decisions to be more important than world hunger, wars, cancer, or US presidential elections, of course; they are dwarfed in comparison. This is just what I have learned from my own experience in the past few days, months, and yes, even years.
As a Christian, I am not perfect, and am nowhere even close. I am inundated with greed, anger, laziness, and more dangerously, pride. I have taken many things for granted as well, including my education, my four siblings, my parents and grandma, clean air, the gift of music, my 5+ senses, clothing, food, shelter, and my four limbs.
Now, I am not doing this for the sole purpose of humble-bragging. I finished the first semester of senior year with a 4.16 grade point average, an ACT score of 34, and an 800 in both SAT Physics and SAT Math 2. I had spent hours and hours writing, rewriting, and polishing my essays, and it was easy to imagine myself secure in my immediate future with university. In fact, my counselor was certain I’d get accepted or at the least, deferred, to my ED school, Johns Hopkins University. It came as a shock to all when I was outright declined. Only my mom had the premonition that perhaps I was not the right fit for the school.
“Faith in God includes faith in his timing.”
I came across this quote after receiving the disappointing news. I trusted that something better was on the horizon. Perhaps biomedical engineering was not my call after all. But I could only watch helplessly as peers and former peers prepared to go off to Cornell, UPenn, UChicago, Hopkins, and the like. Still, I felt confident enough that I would be able to get into at least one of the other eight schools on my list, although everyone I shared it with commented that it looked insanely difficult. At the time I joked, the law of probability is probably in my favor. Ironically enough, one line from R&G always hovered in my mind during those times.
“A weaker man might be moved to reexamine his faith, if for nothing at least in the law of probability.”
Well, I wasn't. January came and went. This month I began receiving decisions. The first two letters served as a warm-up. Hooray, I was accepted into my safeties. I was pumped for more good news when I opened my next email last week.
“Courage, dear heart.”
I thought I had a very decent shot at Northwestern University, but was waitlisted instead. I took a big blow to the ego, and as if that were not enough, I received an outright rejection from UCLA within the next couple of days, though many thought that my stats were incongruent with the result. Another acceptance from my final safety hardly cheered me up. I had been far too optimistic at the outset, and suddenly I understood why pessimists do what they do. I had left my heart out in the open sky for scrutinization, and it had fallen, crashing through the brush. I saw no hand extended to catch it.
I was ready to resign myself to an ordinary life. Well, that’s a bit melodramatic, but I wasn’t expecting much for the year after graduation anymore.
“Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow.”
Where was my hope? Last night at 4am I was drowning in fear. I was having a three-way conversation between my doubt, myself, and God:
Whether I dare to hope, or I dare to stop hoping, my heart aches.
Have you not been through this before? In eighth grade you applied to boarding school and failed. You received denial after denial and finally you had to follow your family to China. It’s going to happen again. It’s happening now. Have you not learned your lesson the first time? Are you so hard-headed to change?
My fear now is not that I have a poor capacity for self-expression, it is that I never had any self to express. I am the utter opposite of unique, and that I cannot change. I am a mixture of cliches, recycled ideas, textbook knowledge, and tears for others. There is nothing new under the sun.
At that time Henley interrupted my thoughts and I remembered, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” Then, jeeringly, this was countered by my doubt. How can you be the master of your fate when nothing is in your control? Pooh-pooh, to your favorite couplet of all literature (that you’ve read, anyway).
To that, I finally heard God’s voice, which I had been ignoring amid the turmoil in my head: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
Oh God, I despaired, I am weak, I am inadequate.
Immediately there was an answer. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
I was so relieved I could have cried. I had been trusting too much on my own achievements, forgetting that they were made only through the abilities given to me by God, in the same way a child uses his father’s own money to buy him a gift. I was so prideful of my God-given abilities that I had taken them for granted. No, I didn’t do any of this on my own, and I never could have. What understanding do I have that is not from God? Let go, let God. “Just trust me…” I finally felt peace and found rest that night.
The next day (today) I received my offer from Wellesley College with complete humility. It would have meant nothing without me going through this painful process, but I wouldn’t have had it otherwise. I am slowly dying to self. Not going to boarding school, in retrospect, turned out for the best, and for that I am infinitely thankful. I wouldn’t have been ready to leave the nest yet, it was too early in my own development. Family, I realized, was too important for me to leave them four years earlier than necessary. Not getting into Hopkins taught me not to take certain things for granted and never to assume, and also to trust that there are better things ahead...and kept me working hard during the rest of the semester and into the next. Again, now I wouldn’t have had it any other way. And finally, today, while doing some laps in the pool, the longer I swam, the more certain I became that I needed to share this experience, intimidating and baring as it would be to me.
I am still awaiting the remainder of my decisions, but I have a new attitude of striving to wholly trust God. I may have doubt, but His yoke is easy and His burden light, and I will wait and hope on Him.
"Only God can turn
a MESS into a MESSage,
a TEST into a TESTimony,
a TRIal into a TRIumph,
a VICTim into a VICTory.
GOD is GOOD, all the time!"
Happy Easter! He is risen!
Gloria, that's a beautiful testimony. Thank you so very much for sharing it! And best wishes on your continuing journey of faith.
Hey everyone I need some advice in a slightly sticky situation with my friend: I've been writing Christian devotions for my friend Thea, and she's been liking several of them, but I recently posted a few words that told her she needed to get help and turn away from her Wiccan lifestyle, and she ignored it. Should I continue to tag her in devotions anyway? Or should I take that away from her? I'm thinking the latter because Jesus said not to cast our pearls before swine, or in other words, we're not supposed to waste our time on people who aren't going to listen.
Rachel, for whatever it's worth, my advice on witnessing to family and friends is to go slow (showing your faith by example and passing comments where they're appropriate), avoid aggressive confrontation, and don't nag. (In my experience, nagging people about anything, faith included, tends to have a result opposite to the one we want.) Results will be more likely if she comes to you with questions rather than if you repeatedly approach her. That said, I can't point to many people who've accepted Christ through my witness (though there have been a few), and I'm sure many group members would say I'm all wet. The best advice is to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the specific situation (if you cultivate a sensitivity to it).
I just wanted to wish everyone a Blessed Good Friday and a very Happy Easter. He Has Risen
Werner wrote: "Rachel, for whatever it's worth, my advice on witnessing to family and friends is to go slow (showing your faith by example and passing comments where they're appropriate), avoid aggressive confron..."Ok, for now I'll approach her by example and gentleness.
Sometimes our actions can speak louder than words. I would pray for her and ask the Holy Spirit to use you as God wishes. Sometimes the seeds we throw , are harvested by another. God tells us that. I think it is good you tried, as many would have not bothered, but she knows your position now. The next move must be up to her. Easter Blessings. Pam
Pamela wrote: "Sometimes our actions can speak louder than words. I would pray for her and ask the Holy Spirit to use you as God wishes. Sometimes the seeds we throw , are harvested by another. God tells us that...."Thanks Pam, you are so right. Easter blessings to you too, and God Bless
Hold_My_Heart (Rachel) wrote: "Werner wrote: "Rachel, for whatever it's worth, my advice on witnessing to family and friends is to go slow (showing your faith by example and passing comments where they're appropriate), avoid agg..."I agree that it's best to witness to family by example. Sometimes we're way to close and it seems like we're being pushy. Often a non-family member is the one God will send.
Happy Easter/Resurrection Sunday all.
Werner wrote: "Rachel, for whatever it's worth, my advice on witnessing to family and friends is to go slow (showing your faith by example and passing comments where they're appropriate), avoid aggressive confron..."Are you friends off-line? Are yo u friends in other areas like to bake, are crazy about pets? If you have a friendship that stands in other areas, I wouldn't make any reference aimed directly at her to leave her Wiccan lifestyle in the devotionals. She might feel assaulted. If God directs you in general to speak against witch craft, then do so, but don't point it at her. Then simply keep her on the send list. She might not respond, but she might be reading your devotionals. Pray about it. Ask God if you should take her off the list. Make sure you're not taking her off in anger. Pray until you get peace about it.
Werner wrote: "Gloria, that's a beautiful testimony. Thank you so very much for sharing it! And best wishes on your continuing journey of faith."Gloria, I enjoyed your testimony. We all feel inadequate at times. You are an accomplished young lady. Something is nudging me (oh, yes, the Holy Spirit) and saying going to China was far better than boarding school, for all the reasons you cite and probably so many more. I think you are hearing from the Lord. He's got you in the palm of his hand and you're going to have a fabulous education no matter what school you go to. The Holy Spirit is your teacher. Bless you as you continue on your spiritual and educational journey.
Nike, Thea is from Canada, I'm in Colorado. Our friendship is long distance, we talk about our mutual interests somewhat. We met online. I know her mom and her aunt raised her in the pagan and wiccan faith. Wicca is based on the earth instead of on Jesus. I know that when we're testifying, the goal is to show mercy and not make people mad, however, I know that wicca can be one of satan's traps in disguise, and God put it on my heart to warn her. Of course, I also know that most people who are in that religion don't believe in the existence of satan, I'm praying that she and her family can see the good example that believers set. I'm going to love her like Jesus would. People like her need it most of all.
Hey everyone! If you don't really know me already, I am a current high school senior living in Beijing, China. In the fall I will (most likely) be attending Wellesley College in the Boston area. If any of you live there, and would like to meet up later this year, please send me a message and let me know! I would love to :)
Gloria wrote: "Hello, so I know that this comment is not really on topic with what you were all discussing just now, but I'm looking for a little advice. I didn't really know which other thread to put it on.Whe..." Gloria, I've read the Bible through twice, almost three times, but that was a while ago. Now I read portions. It might help to do a word study, or a topic study and then something fresh might jump out at you from a verse you've read before. Another thing I've been doing lately that's powerful is reading a verse, or verses, or chapter (whatever) then praying whatever comes to mind after the reading. Then I just wait on the Lord to see if he has something He'd like to say to me, maybe instructions to order my walk. I've had some really deep times with the Holy Spirit like that. Other times I'm in a jumble and can't get me out of the way at all, but that's okay. I really have to see that...how much of me is in the way. Hope this helps even a little.
Hold_My_Heart (Rachel) wrote: "Nike, Thea is from Canada, I'm in Colorado. Our friendship is long distance, we talk about our mutual interests somewhat. We met online. I know her mom and her aunt raised her in the pagan and wicc..."I've known people, mostly women who practice wiccan. It's a form of witchcraft. The people who practice it call it "white witchcraft." It's still witchcraft. I think they know there is a devil because the dark witches call on that side in their rituals.
Still I agree with you, Thea needs to see the love of Christ.
I have a question I'm hoping someone can help me answer. I recently read this Bible Verse, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort" -2 Corinthians 1:3 I am surprised to see the saying Blessed Be in a Bible Verse, I thought it was only a pagan saying. Can you please explain to me what it means in a Christian context?
As I understand it, the pagan usage is just a copy of the Judeo-Christian usage, expressed in the now-archaic English that was used in past centuries (though of course when pagans invoke a blessing, they're not invoking God as we Christians know and understand Him).Jews in the first century (and often today as well), when speaking of God, would usually say, "Blessed be His name," His "name," serving as a circumlocution for the Deity Himself --they wouldn't say "Bless God," because rabbinic rules forbade ever saying "God" at all, to prevent any possibility of saying it "in vain." Paul's usage here is a Christian equivalent; but he doesn't have any hang-up about saying or writing God's name directly, because he knows he isn't using it in vain, and isn't bound any longer by man-made rabbinic rules. Hope that helps to clarify things a little!
Werner wrote: "As I understand it, the pagan usage is just a copy of the Judeo-Christian usage, expressed in the now-archaic English that was used in past centuries (though of course when pagans invoke a blessing..."That helps a lot! Thanks :)
That was a great explanation. I really enjoyed reading about that fact Werner. Thank you
This question I thought up the other night has been bugging me for a few days now: theoretically, if we were given the choice of being able to read all the books in the world but the bible, or the bible but no other book in the world, which choice should we choose and why?
Gloria, I'd say if we had to choose, our choice should be the Bible and no other other book; because only in the Bible do we encounter God's inspired Word, written as a self-revelation and guide to us. Only the Bible is, or ever can be, the touchstone and standard for everything we think about life, death, right and wrong, and the universe around us. But fortunately we don't have to choose; God has given us the Bible, AND at the same time placed us where we have access to enormous reservoirs of human creativity and knowledge that He's enabled people to write down.
Good explanation. Don't look like Bible up on Goodreads. I did and I was shocked at the negativity and profanity about the word of God. Even if your an unbeliever there is no reason to say such ugly things. I was horrified. I listed the book under read because I have read it, but my review will probably be made fun of. To bad. It is the word of God.
Pamela, I was shocked at how lukewarm the Christian section was at my local library. There was only a tiny handful of books that had real Biblical truth in them, all the rest had stories that aren't even biblical, like Jesus having a wife, how to be a Christian and a Buddhist at the same time, or how to be a Christian and a witch at the same time. I will continue to enjoy my library because I love reading and going to the library holds a lot of great memories for me, but I still use discernment in what I read, and I'll pray that these authors' hearts can be softened.
Yes, it is definitely fortunate. I think that the bible may not teach us everything (i.e. science, history, economics), but it teaches us everything we need to know. Would you agree with that?
I've been wondering about Buddhism a bit too - it's not a religion per se, but more of a philosophy. I think we could definitely learn selectively from their principles.
Gloria wrote: "I've been wondering about Buddhism a bit too - it's not a religion per se, but more of a philosophy. I think we could definitely learn selectively from their principles."It's both, Buddhists worship Buddha and they follow inspirational sayings. They also meditate a lot. Christians do have the freedom to respect other religions as long as we can focus on the good things while discerning the bad. I am interested in Wicca. They are very close to nature, something I appreciate because God gave us a beautiful world to enjoy.
Gloria wrote: "Yes, it is definitely fortunate. I think that the bible may not teach us everything (i.e. science, history, economics), but it teaches us everything we need to know. Would you agree with that?"I would say that the Bible teaches us everything we need to know about God, His plan of salvation for us and for the world, and how He wants us to relate to Him and to others. And this is the crucial area that makes all the difference, for our lives now and eternally.
Gloria wrote: "I've been wondering about Buddhism a bit too - it's not a religion per se, but more of a philosophy. I think we could definitely learn selectively from their principles."Ralph Linton devotes a chapter in The Tree of Culture to early Buddhism. Like Hinduism, which it split off from, it's based on the belief that the physical world does not really exist, but is in fact a harmful illusion that keeps people from attaining Nirvana (not "heaven" as we think of it, but a plane of existence free from all emotion, sensation, or desire). Siddhartha Gautama, the founder (ca. 563-483 B.C. --"Buddha" is his title, which means "Enlightened One") propounded a self-help system for people to use in purging themselves of desire.
Buddha never claimed to be a god, and was indifferent to the Hindu gods --he once said that even if they exist, they can't help you attain "Enlightenment;" you have to do that for yourself. In that way, his teachings are more philosophy than religion. But his followers deified him after his death, and gradually overlaid his life story with considerable legendary and mythological embellishments; his teachings also intermingled with various pre-Buddhist religious beliefs and rituals in the lands to which they spread, and Buddhists developed religious rituals of their own.
God reveals to us in the Bible that the material world He created is real, and that our basic problem as individuals and as a race is sin, not "desire" (desire can be perfectly legitimate, if it's for the right things!). It's corrected, not by mental "Enlightenment," but by spiritual regeneration that transforms us morally; and our intended destiny isn't "Nirvana," but eternal loving fellowship with God and his human family. So Christian truth and Buddhist beliefs are fundamentally different. But they share some basic ethical principles that God reveals to all people through the conscience.
Interesting conversation! My thought:Every religion including Buddhism has practices, rules, things to do, principles. We have a Person who rose from the dead and lives in heaven at God's right hand.
I'm Andrew by the way, introduced myself a long time ago I think.
Good thought, Andrew; thanks for sharing it!
Barring anything unforeseen, Barb and I will be heading out early on Wednesday to spend a few days visiting family. I'll be mostly offline while we're gone. But we plan to be back late Sunday; and I'll look forward to catching up on posts and messages that I've missed while we're away!
Starting tomorrow, I'll be offline for a few days. My wife and I are heading out early tomorrow morning to spend a few more days with her side of the family before the school year starts in again. But I expect to be back sometime on Sunday afternoon.
Thanks, Janelle and Pamela. I'm glad to report that we did have a good, safe trip!
Christian Goodreaders
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tree of Culture (other topics)At Home in Mitford (other topics)
Lifeblood (other topics)
