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kaitkris2005
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Name: Mimi
Interests: Faith, family, friends, church, nature, singing, playing piano, working out, laughing, collecting and listening to CDs, digital photography, internet and computer (Macintosh), email...so many fun things in this life!
Expertise: Talking a lot, airhead impersonating, baking
Occupation: Administrative Assistant
Industry: Ministry
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
4/28/2005
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| To come visit me at my new blog site...
therealmimi.wordpress.com | | |
| My blog has a new home at therealmimi.wordpress.com Come see and visit often! | | |
| A good friend of mine taught his children and anyone who happened to stay at their home that they read God's Word and prayed before eating breakfast and starting the rest of their day. "Bible before breakfast!" he would cheerfully tell them, as they sleepily rubbed eyes and followed him into the den.
I found a Scripture this morning - Deuteronomy 8:3 - that would probably back him up in that habit:
"...people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." A very hungry Jesus used these words to rebuke satan when being tempted to turn stones into bread. I remember Him also saying to his disciples one time when they asked if he had eaten - he told them that he had food they knew nothing about: doing what his Father wanted Him to do. Time and time again Jesus told people that he only said what His Father told him to say. We can trust His words.
It's no wonder I stumble and fall sometimes as I'm trying to walk along and keep up with Jesus on this narrow path. If I haven't been "ingesting" God's living Word, I become malnourished or even starving. How will we be able to live like Jesus if we don't know how he lived? How will we know how he lived unless we read the testimony about his life in the Bible? How will we resist temptation and stay on track if we don't have God's Words of guidance and encouragement engraved into our hearts? How will we know God if we don't read the Word He himself gave to us?
I'm trying to follow my friend's advice and get my daily dose of Bible before breakfast. I want to be healthy and strong, fortified with a fresh daily portion. It's better than frosted flakes, poptarts and even cinnamon rolls (then you know it's good) and has eternal effects on my heart and life. Are you hungry? ~grabs a Bible~ Dig in!
"...you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say, People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.” I Peter 1:23-25 NLT
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| Don't look directly at the sun - it'll make you blind! Did you ever hear that as a little kid and wonder if it was really true? Did you cock your head to one side, squint, and try barely opening your eyes to look at the sun anyway?
It's one of those no-brainer tips in the category with "don't stick your tongue to a frozen pole", "don't put peas up your nose" and "don't jump into the crocodile pen at the zoo."
Sometimes when we're not thinking about the sun, or it's overcast, or we're busy and not getting to spend much time outdoors we forget how brilliant and bright it really is. We forget the power behind that mammoth ball of gas and fire, so many light years away yet sustaining all of life on this little dustball of a planet.
I think we forget how amazing and powerful God is all the time. We get caught up in our lives, our problems, ourselves and start thinking that God must be like the best version of us. How crazy and small-minded we are sometimes! That would be like trying to physically grab and use the sun to light a little birthday candle on your cake.
As I was writing an email this morning to send to my immediate family sharing a verse that touched me this morning, something amazing happened and I know it was God at work. You know how when you begin typing email addresses in outlook once you type a few letters it "remembers" that person and shows you the address? Then you just hit enter and it puts the rest of the address in for you. Well I was zipping through the emails for my family, hit a few letters, enter, hit a few, enter, until they were all there. Then "click" - I sent the email. In a moment I got an email from a dear friend of mine thanking me for the note and scripture and saying that it touched her, that she needed to hear that today. I was a little confused. Did I send that email to her?? I looked back at my sent list and sure enough, there was her name. I then realized that the first two letters of her email address are the same as the first two letters of my grandmother's.
I think God wanted her to read that scripture today and be encouraged. My friend has been going through a tough time and has a lot of uncertainty facing her right now. As I responded to her I was overcome with emotion thinking how much God must love her to work through that little goof on my part. WOW. He is at work on her behalf and would do that just to encourage her!
Job was troubled after enduring horrible hardship after hardship. Three well-meaning friends couldn't seem to help him through and after a while even Job started complaining and saying how God was against him, he shouldn't have even been born, blah blah. Well, a younger man, Elihu, steps up to the plate and says that he's been itching to speak his mind but was waiting out of respect. He finally can't take it any more and reminds Job, with beautiful descriptions and heartfelt praise, who God really is. This verse is the end of Elihu's reminder to Job and the one I shared with my family (and surprise friend) this morning:
"We cannot look at the sun,
for it shines brightly in the sky
when the wind clears away the clouds.
22 So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God.
He is clothed in dazzling splendor.
23 We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty;
but even though he is just and righteous,
he does not destroy us.
24 No wonder people everywhere fear him.
All who are wise show him reverence.” Job 37:21-24
Next time you go to church, focus your mind on God and ask Him to show you who He really is so you can truly respond in awe-filled worship. As you pray, seek His will and bring requests before Him, ask Him to remind you how powerful and able He is, how good He is, how trustworthy. As you remember these things, tell Him how much you love and praise Him! Take your place, along with me, as a tiny, humble, finite human bowing before an immeasurable, glorious, holy and infinite God.
He won't fit in that little box you've got there
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| "Let another man praise you and not your own mouth" was a verse my sister loved as a child and would quote to the rest of us on a regular basis. It became a joke in a way, to teasingly bring someone back down to earth if they started thinking too much of themselves. Have you read the book of Proverbs? Wow. Talk about practical advice on how to live a good, peaceful life - a life that pleases God. I've read it through and want to again. One thing I noticed that made me laugh is that in almost every chapter, one of the proverbs has to do with nagging women/wives. I think that's a window into the life of the one who wrote them don't you? I mean, listen to this one, "A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day." One of my favorite proverbs is Prov. 11:22, "A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout." I tell you, it's an entertaining book.
I digress.
Back to the thinking much of oneself issue. I have thought a lot about it and have come to this conclusion: Pride is the root of all sin, the root of our rebelion and separateness from God. Do you agree? As I think about sin, anything we do or say that goes against God's high standards, I can trace each one back to problematic pride. Pride keeps us from admitting we've done wrong, from reconciling with someone else in a relationship because they've "offended us" for goodness sake, from loving people the way Jesus did because we're caught up in ourselves, from giving up control to God because we think we can do better. Face it, that really must be why we do that. Pride can keep you from forgiving someone, from accepting someone, from submitting to God's will or plan because it doesn't make sense to us, which down deep means we think we know better.
There are many verses that tell us we should think of others better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3), be careful not to think too highly of ourselves (Romans 12:3), to humble ourselves following Jesus' example (Phil. 2:5-8), to consider other's needs before our own, and on and on. In fact, Matthew 23:11-12 tells us, "The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
In order to walk in Jesus' steps we have to figure out how to keep pride at bay. We're not supposed to berate ourselves because Jesus also said to love our neighbors as ourselves. Maybe our self esteem and ability to love come from remembering our place and what God has done for us, that we're his children and that alone gives us our worth. If we remember that our relationship with God has nothing to do with us or anything we've done, surely our pride wouldn't cause so much trouble.
God help me remember! | | |
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