My Church is in week 3 of 6 of a "Heart Check" series. Last Friday the daily devotion was about guarding your heart by God's peace. A very familiar passage of Scripture accompanied that day's devotion...one that I have read numerous times in my life...I even have it underlined in my Bible (so you know it must be important). I will share the two verses in a moment, but I first wanted to share a few thoughts on my heart that God has been speaking to me about since Friday...
How many times do we read something in the Bible...maybe even underline it because we think, "Oooh...that's a good one...that really applies to my life!," but we don't follow through with what we're being told to do in that particular verse? I know I am SO guilty of it. I have been raised in Church since the day I was born, and I know countless verses in the Bible. But do I take the time to apply them to my life? I feel God is calling us to a higher standard. If we're going to say, "Yes, I believe that the Bible is true," then our hearts and lives need to reflect our belief.
For me, personally, worry/fear/doubt has become a normal part of my lifestyle. If I were to be asked, "Do you have faith in what God's word says? Do you believe that every part of the Bible is true, even for YOU?," I would answer, "Yes! Of course!" But then if I were to be honest before God, my worry/fear/doubt completely negates my belief in His word. What a slap in the face to God. His word is there to guide us, help us, heal us, etc., yet we don't always treat it that way. I feel that my worry/fear/doubt is grieving God's heart.
So as I read Philippians 4:6-7 for the umpteenth time last Friday, I could really feel God speaking to me. I felt like He was telling me that it's time to stop "just reading" His word and time to start applying it to my life. So with that, I share these verses with you...
Philippians 4:6-7 ~ Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
I'll end with a prayer from my Bible...
"God of peace, forgive us for separating ourselves from you and other believers and allowing anxiety to rule our life. Remind us to look to you so that you can grant us peace, for you are soverign over all things. Amen."
3 comments:
Okay, how did you get inside my mind? Those are my three big struggles, too. And, yes, in reality, we're actually saying we don't believe God when we let fear, worry and doubt take over. Such a great mini sermon.
Thanks for sharing that devotion. I know I struggle with all three of those issues, too. Just now I have been worrying about some things and I know this was God reflected to me through you. :o)
Lori, awesome post! I needed to read this today and I am going to share it with my friend who needs to read this too! Thanks!
Post a Comment