Feasting on God's word or gluttony ?

 I have been reading my bible lately every day. Just like I used to. But like a starving man or a thirsty one, I would devour it by chapter after chapter. But I stopped and realized, I was not getting very much out of it. It was like eating a large slice of chocolate cake quickly without taking time to actually taste it. The bible was so good to my parched soul that I was being a glutton and not taking time to savor it and to ponder what I was reading. Now I try to ask God to speak to me through the word and tell me what I am supposed to hear. Sometimes I will read a few verses, and sometimes I will read up to three or more chapters.It just depends on what I need. I am beginning to know when I have reached where my destination is for that day in the bible.  The Spirit nudges me and lets me know when I have reached that nugget of wisdom for today or this moment. I had been devouring chapter after chapter but with reading so quickly and so much, I was losing track of what I had read. I was not "tasting" the meat of the word. I know it goes into the mind to be brought up later when needed but when we need guidance, we need to slow down and think on what we are being given. 

   Case in point, I have been considering going back to work. It seems we are spending more than we ought to trying to fix the things in the house. My husband has always said that he has the pension and if things got tighter then  I ought to be the one to get a job. So far we have managed quite well. (He really does not want me going back to work.He only brings it up when he is frustrated.)But we had a cushion in the bank which is diminishing. My health is not great physically. I was working and it took a great toll on me. When we moved, it was in the hopes we can make it on his pension.  This is what I have been struggling with. I have laid it out before God and twice now I have been given the same message about God meeting our needs and not to worry about what to eat or wear and what tomorrow brings. Both times this message has come from a snippet on the verse for today on www.biblegateway.com . I opened up the chapter each time to read the verse in context and found my answer for now. Two separate messages telling me to trust God to meet our needs. So for now He is telling me not to take on a full time job. 

  God's word is meant to be savored and to be studied. It is not a race to read through the bible so many times a year to show what a good christian I am. It is a book of life lessons and most of all the pathway to God. When we read the word, we begin to understand(hear) it because we are being called to God's salvation. Once we are saved, it becomes our handbook so to speak on all of life's issues. We learn of how God works and most importantly it speaks to us of His will. Sometimes God speaks to us in that still small voice in our heart. But many times we get the answer through the reading and pondering of the bible. 

   2nd Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof , for correction, for instruction in righteousness," . It is so much more, it comforts us when we are down, it encourages us when we feel like we have failed, it praises God and helps us to do the same. It has the answers to our questions.

   I have been wanting to write about this for several days now and have not had the quiet time enough to get it into words. I felt God leading me to do this. I am setting up my laptop in my sanctuary for times I need to read and pray. I have a small bedroom just for myself  that I have my sewing table and machines, plus my daybed and big reading chair. When I need to be alone, this is where I go.

   We all need that quiet time and place. It might be early in the morning like I do or late at night. It can be anywhere you can get time to pray and to read or listen to God's word. Just remember to pray before you read and seek what you need for today. Our daily bread is not just the food we eat, but the food for the soul, the word which sustains us and makes us grow as Christians. 

   So take time to feast on the word of God. Pray before reading and seek out what the Lord is trying to give you. Take time to study what you are reading and think on it as how it applies to your life. It does not always take a huge amount at a time to give you your need. But it does take thinking on what you have been led to study and to ask for wisdom and understanding. It should not be how many chapters a day you read, it should be how much you are getting out of what you have read. You will know  once you have reached your pearl of wisdom. It will stand out in your mind. Take it and ponder it. Pray over it and thank the Lord for sending it to you.

The power of the tongue. Ephesians 4:29

I know that the HS is working in my heart because I do not feel the same anymore. It used to be I would say something crude or vulgar without thinking about it. Now I feel that battle going on inside . Most of the time, I keep  my mouth shut. But there are times I still mess up. I feel remorse and ask forgiveness.  There is life and death in the power of the tongue.  The bible tells us not to let any corrupt talk come out of our mouth. That consist of lying, crude language or curse words, gossip and sexual innuendo. We need to be diligent on guarding what we see, read and hear. Because once we put it in the mind, it does not come out. Plus if we continually expose our selves to corrupt ideas and  ungodly situations, it is bound to come out of the mouth.Our tongue speaks what is deep in the heart. So use your tongue to speak life into those around you. Lift them up when they fall. Show love and compassion to those you meet. When you fail, seek forgiveness and try again.

"If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit."

Galatians 5:25. If we claim to be Christians we need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Yes we will fall down and make mistakes, we will sin again and hate ourselves for doing it. But we repent and seek forgiveness and continue on the right path. There is a war that rages within all of us. The war between good and evil. There are powers loose on the earth that are not Godly. They seek to destroy us and draw us away from our walk with God. We have a sinful nature that we were born with. As a Christian it is a daily and often minute by minute task to flee from that nature and do what is right and holy. Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart. But we have a Comforter who lives inside of us and helps us to do what is right. Yes we do make mistakes. We are still sinners. But the difference is we are sinners saved by grace. We cannot earn it nor ever be good enough on our own merit. Jesus paid my sin debt. He can pay yours too. John 3:16.


I posted this on my Facebook page today. I hope it helps someone to see that we need to live what we profess. Yes we are imperfect and weak. But in our weakness God is made strong. He is the power behind our feeble attempts to do what needs to be done. We just need to be the willing vessel. 

On the home front, I managed to put up 7 pints of green beans this morning, The fresh ones were on sale and I bought almost five pounds. I hope to go pick up some more tomorrow. I have some sweet potatoes to can as well. I have the opportunity to go pick more sweet potatoes on Saturday. 

 I have been dealing with some health issues lately. Ear infections in both ears that did not want to go away. I did 10 days of antibiotics only to have the infection move to my sinuses.The ears are still not right but hopefully they will be soon. I start a new regime of different antibiotics tomorrow. Please pray that this time they will get better and I will have no more troubles.In the last year it has been bad for me with respiratory and sinus/ ear issues. 

  The days have been pleasant instead of so hot and muggy. I am enjoying it very much. Have a good day and tell someone you love them. Diana

Integrity

Titus 2New International Version (NIV)

Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel

2 "You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you."

  Integrity,  the act of living an holy life pleasing to God. Everyone has an excuse, or so they say. But do we really? Yes many of us have faced hardships and bad things have happened that leave scars on us inside and out. But will that stop us from being able to live a life of integrity? No.  Our actions are our own making. 

  Each day we choose how we are going to act or react to the things around us. Each day we are given the opportunity to better ourselves. I am not only talking financially. You need to start from the inside and then your actions will change and you can then have people look at you and consider you a good candidate for financial opportunities or other life changing decisions.

  Integrity in a person creates respect from others. They look at you and want what you have. Sometimes they will give you a hard time because they see where they lack and are jealous of you. Those are the ones you pray for and try to encourage. 

  No matter where you fall in the "social" class of the world, you can have pride and dignity of being the best person you can be under those circumstances. All of this social hierarchy will pass away when we meet God. All that will matter is whether or not you accepted salvation through Jesus and how you lived your life for God. Believing that Jesus died and rose again to pay your sin debt is the only way to heaven.See John 3:16. How you live your life for God, will be your rewards once you get there.

  Can you look in the mirror and see someone who is worthy of respect? We all have our shortcomings. Myself included. But we have opportunities each day to better ourselves. Just for today, choose to change some things for the better. Speak kindly and be respectful to others. Be busy doing good for another with no thought of gain for yourself. Find something to better your education even if it is just reading a book. Tomorrow do it again. And when you make a mistake, ask forgiveness  and try again. Don't forget to forgive yourself. As long as you are trying to live that life of integrity, you are making progress. Trust me, people are going to be watching you. You will become the role model they follow. Make it a good one.

  

More Bible book instead of Facebook.

  With all of the bad news that floods my computer screen, it can overwhelm the mind. The bible talks of the end days and all the rumors and stuff that goes around of wars and such calamity. Well that is going on right now.I know we need to be prepared for what may come, but I do not think it does us good to be filling our mind of the scare tactics they are trying to use on us. God is with us and He is faithful to protect us and give us our needs. That is either us being able to work to get it or other people helping us achieve that.  But He is still providing for us what we need. Sometimes we are dealt a supernatural miracle of provision. It is those times we can really see it is a God thing. But rest assured that God sees our needs and if we take all our issues to Him and thankfully pray not only for what we have been given but for what we really need, they will be met.
 
    I have to admit, I spend way too much time on Facebook. I like to play the games. But at what cost? I have found that the page is filled with bad news and yellow journalism. So much distortion and scare tactics. So little truth. I tried to get in some groups about prepping. Not for militant purposes but for learning how to store things and make things  like they used to do.Maybe I should have chosen more of a homesteading lifestyle group. I like the vintage sewing machine groups. I have a vintage Brother and a treadle machine . But I also have a new machine and an older one too.  I do pretty well about not being covetous on that part. I have learned much on the care of my machines. I love to browse the recipe sites too. There are a lot of good things on Facebook. But sadly much of what I have seen lately disturbs me.I am sickened by the filth that some folks put up. I delete them and sometimes have to block a person. I am saddened by the pictures of animal abuse. That tears me up and makes me angry. I wish I could have a social media that did not allow such things and was Christian based.I  try to spread the good news on my Facebook page. I keep up with family and use it to send messages and such to people.  But the sad truth is I need more bible book than Facebook. If I spent as much time in my bible as I do Facebook, I would most likely be a much  better person. I have lots of bible stuff  and devotionals on my feed. But time spent with God in His word, is going to provide me with something that Facebook never will,  It will allow me to get to know Jesus an to hear God speak to me through the word. It will  teach me and rebuke me where I have failed. It will give me hope and courage in the fight against evil. It will guide my steps. It will bring me comfort in times of distress. It will bring me peace. So that has been my thought this morning. More bible, less Facebook.

The bed that ate my dog.

Good morning friends. My mattress is leaving a gap at the headboard just large enough that my poor dog sometimes gets stuck in it. Gizmo likes to sleep right over my head on my pillow usually. Well this has happened twice so far, he would get to burrowing down into the pillow and his hips and back legs get down in the gap. It is not enough to hurt him, but when he realizes he is stuck, he wants to struggle a bit. So mom to the rescue.I think I will see if my hubby will add a board to the lower part of the headboard so the mattress has something to rest against. That should solve the problem.
  I was on Facebook and of course an ad comes on a little after 7 that tells me you can buy the paint I am using at buy one get one free. What? A one day sale and the ad comes on well after I want to drive 25 miles to the store. In the fine print of comments it said you can buy it online and pick up the next day to get the sale price. Maybe I should have but when asking my hubby about it, he did not seem so enthused. So I let it ride. Lowes has a 30 day price match guarantee. But I did not print out the ad as a reference. I am still able to get a 10 dollar rebate on it. So keep your receipts and if you see the same item on sale for a cheaper price, take the ad and the receipt  (within 30 days of purchasing the original purchase) and go to customer service and have it adjusted. But if you live far from town, sometimes it is not worth spending the gas to go unless you need to go to town anyway.
 I saw an interesting video on preserving eggs for the winter. It said to keep them in a solution of slaked lime and water in a crock. They had a 100 percent success rate for 8 months. It was a ratio of one quart water and one ounce slaked lime. You cover the crock to keep it from evaporating. Now this is not the ground  lime we get in the gardening section. This stuff is in the building section where the masonry stuff is. If I ever get my chickens up and running, I may try this.

Gleaning.

The bible tells farmers to leave part of the harvest for those who are poor and in need. Well many farmers now do not. They turn the fallen or missed crops back under very quickly. Today we(my friend and I) stopped by a lady who belongs to our church.My friend needed to borrow a table for a dinner. We noticed they had just harvested sweet potatoes recently. My friend was already friends with her and asked about the sweet potatoes. We were told to go pick as much as we wanted. Well I wish I had known, I would have come prepared to dig,but we were able to pick almost half a bushel. I could have gotten more and wish I had had the time but my friend was in a hurry. But I am very thankful for what we do have. Some of the potatoes were scarred or broken but that is okay. I will cut the bad off and use the rest. Their harvesters did a fine job harvesting because we could not find many really nice big ones. That is good for them. I need to let some of them cure out better to become sweeter . This should give me a start on the sweet potatoes we need for the winter. Thank God for answered prayer. I had been praying about being able to glean crops. I also mentioned to this lady that if she did not mind, if we could pick up some pecans when the time comes. Since she is in a wheelchair she is unable to. I believe she is going to let me do that too. She is also the one who is going to give me some chickens when I get my coop built .  Such blessings. I do need to spread the word at church  about wanting to glean crops. No one will know unless you ask.   So even though I did not get to put a garden in this year, I hope to put away food for the winter as I see it come on sale very cheaply. When Thanksgiving comes, many times collards and sweet potatoes and such are on a deep discount.That will be the time to stock up. God is good!