Seeking Hidden Treasures in God's Word| What We Believe About Ourselves | | Posted by Vickie on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:23am | Once, when my son was little and trying to convince me that he was telling the truth, he said, "I believe in myself!"
What he was saying was, "I know I'm telling the truth." And while his declaration is funny, let's think of the impact of those four words... "I believe in myself." What do we believe about ourselves? I mean really believe? We can usually figure it out pretty quickly by looking at our behavior. You see, we act out of our belief system. Meaning, that what we believe about God and about ourselves usually comes out in the way we act.
I find that when I'm not particularly thrilled with myself and feeling like a big ol' sinner that I usually end up acting like a big ol' sinner! When my thought-life is contrary to God's Word and I'm not taking my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), I notice that I don't relate very well with others. I'm edgy, critical, and negative. All because of how I'm feeling about myself.
I believe that one of the most profound truths in the Bible is found in Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (KJV). It's not what we know to be true but what we believe in our hearts that wins out!
There is no substitute for knowing what God's Word says about us! Well, actually there is. It's believing what His Word says about us! And what does it say about us? It says that, if we're in Christ, we are loved, redeemed, forgiven, accepted, holy, and blameless. And when we start believing it, we'll start acting like it!
| | | | | New Year's Resolution | | Posted by Vickie on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 12:15am | I've heard that resolutions aren't really scriptural and usually don't work. But, you know, I believe there is something very scriptural about "resolving" or "purposing in our heart" to do or not do something. Take, for instance these men in the Bible:
Job: "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl" (Job 31:10).
David: "I have resolved that my mouth will not sin" (Ps. 17:3).
Daniel: "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine" (Dan. 1:8).
The King James Version says that "Daniel purposed in his heart" not to eat certain foods. In much the same way, David made up his mind that he would not give his mouth over to sin without a fight. And, Job made an agreement with himself not to look at a girl lustfully.
As this new year begins, let's ask God what He wants us to resolve or settle in our hearts. Let's seek Him on what things He wants us to "give up" so as not to defile ourselves. Let's make some kind of covenant with ourselves to change any behavior that is dishonoring to God. In other words, let's make some new year's resolutions based on God's Word and what He wills for us.
Happy New Year!
| | | | | Prepare Him Room | | Posted by Vickie on Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 7:17am | In preparation for Christmas, my kids and I have been reading an Advent book. It’s one of those where you light a certain colored candle with each night’s reading. (We skipped that part...no candles!) Anyway, in the midst of reading this book, I began to recognize how important it is for us to prepare our hearts for Christmas…for the coming of Jesus into our lives anew and afresh each year, or even each day.
Then, just this morning, after I’d already had it in mind to write on this topic, I opened up my devotional Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and Richard Blackaby and read today’s devotion which was entitled “Preparing for the Presence of God.” Weird huh?
Read these words: “If we are to receive the powerful presence of God, we must prepare ourselves.” They go on to mention how John the Baptist was sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. “Those who heard John’s message and prepared their lives recognized Jesus when He came." Most, however, (largely the religious leaders) were unprepared for His arrival and missed their Messiah. The heart of Blackaby's message was summed up in one sentence: "If you are unprepared, you, too, will miss the opportunity to experience Jesus.”
Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room!
| | | | | Blessed is She Who has Believed... | | Posted by Vickie on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 8:46am | I have a Christmas message for you…
Have you ever received a promise from God…a personal message from His mouth to your ears (or rather, from His Word to your eyes)?
Mary received a promise from God through an angel: “You will be with child and give birth to a son…The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:31, 35).
Then, after the angel surprised Mary with the almost-as-unbelievable news that her 90-year-old relative, Elizabeth was also pregnant, Mary made a trip to the hill country of Judea. Upon greeting Elizabeth, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and in a loud voice exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” (Luke 1:41-45).
What relief must have assaulted Mary! She hadn’t just imagined the angel’s visit. She really was carrying the long-awaited Messiah. And God, in His goodness, provided Mary with another woman to share in this wondrous happening. And, a pregnant one to boot! What an unusual pair—a 14-year-old virgin and a seasoned 90-year old. Can you picture their talks? And, trust me, they had lots of time to talk! For, if you remember, Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, couldn’t interrupt! He had been rendered mute when he hadn't believed the angel’s proclamation to him just months earlier. How he must have kicked himself time and again wishing he had believed like the young Mary!
But, let’s not overlook the other kindness God showed to Mary. Not only had He provided a confidant in Elizabeth, but a confirmation. How nervous she must have been the entire trip wondering how she was going to find just the right words with which to share her news. But, as it turned out, she didn’t even have to speak! Elizabeth knew it upon hearing Mary’s greeting (If only it would've been that easy when she returned home to tell her mother!)
This Christmas, let’s be mindful of God’s promises (especially His very personal ones to us). Let’s be thankful for the Elizabeths he places in our lives to encourage and comfort us and help us through difficult times of doubt and confusion. And, most of all, let’s be like Mary and believe that what the Lord has said to us will be accomplished.
“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”
| | | | | New Beginnings | | Posted by Vickie on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 7:37am | A little bit ago, I was sitting at my dining room table looking out the window just as the sun rose over the housetop to the east of us. It reminded me how God gives us new beginnings: new days, new weeks, new months, new years, new seasons...and how wonderful it is for us to be able to start over each day, each week, each month, each year, each season. God is so wise!
I went to the concordance in the back of my Bible and looked up the word new. Read some of the verses with this word in it:
Psalm 40:3: "He put a new song in my heart."
Isaiah 42:9: "And new things I declare."
Isaiah 43:18-19: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!"
Isaiah 62:2: "You will be called by a new name."
Lamentations 3:23: "[His compassions] are new every morning."
Ezekiel: 35:26: " I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you."
Zephaniah 3:5: "Every new day [the Lord] does not fail."
Luke 22:20: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
Acts 5:20: "Tell the people the full message of this new life."
Romans 6:4: "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
2 Cor 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Eph 4:24: "Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Heb 10:19-20: "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened up for us...let us draw near to God."
1 Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope thorugh the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you."
Revelation 21:1: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth."
Our God is a God of new beginnings!
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