I must believe in His goodness, and that what He's saved me for is so much greater than what He's saved me from. - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
Lot's wife is a woman who, again, I have heard of several times and have heard the warnings of, but may never have really considered the ramifications of the situation. Lot and his wife were living in the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with their two daughters. The Lord had sent some angels to visit Abraham and tell him that He was going to destroy the two cities. Abraham bargained with God to the point where if the angels found five righteous people in the two cities, they would not be destroyed. The account never actually lets us know whether Lot and his family were considered righteous, but, in any case, four people is not five and so the city was to be destroyed.
The angels warned Lot and his family to leave the city and when Lot hesitated, they made sure that they got out and then told them not to look back. Two commands from the Lord of Hosts through His messengers. DON'T LOOK BACK! and DON'T STOP ANYWHERE IN THE PLAIN! Lot and his family began to head for the small town of Zoar because the angels had said they could. All they had to do was get to the city and not look behind them.
How hard is it, when you've become attached to a place, to leave and not look back at it? When you're driving away, you have that desire to see it one last time. If you can look back at it one last time, you'll be ok. Well, God had commanded that they not look back but Lot's wife was unable to place her faith so fully in God and she looked back. We don't know why she chose to do so, just that she did. Instantly, she became a pillar of salt, ceasing to be a person. When we question God's ability to carry us through a situation because we're much more comfortable with what we know than what we don't know, we doubt God. Whether that was exactly how Lot's wife felt, I can't say, but when God gives us a clear command, it is our place to do as He says, when He says.
"Remember Lot's wife." Luke 17:32 (NIV)
-Meg
Today we look at Lot's wife. The first passage/verse from scripture we were asked to read today was Luke 17:32 "32Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!" (NLT). If you aren't aware of the story behind this statement you may be a little confused because you wonder, why would we be told to remember? right. Well I have to admit I don't even know what the story is. Now as I start to read Genesis 19, I realize I do know the story, and I know what we are supposed to remember. "26But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt." Genesis 19:26 (NLT), you see Lot's wife didn't follow a simple set of instructions, she was told not to look back, and in the end she suffered the punishment.
At the end of the devotional today we read this : "I must believe in His goodness, and that what He's saved me for is so much greater than what He's saved me from." -She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1. Let's not look back but look forward.
-Tiff
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2012
Today is a day for memorizing a scripture verse.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
-Meg
-We need to lean on God's promises
-We need to have faith!
"5Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." -Proverbs 3:5-6
-Tiff
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
-Meg
-We need to lean on God's promises
-We need to have faith!
"5Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." -Proverbs 3:5-6
-Tiff
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Hagar is a woman that I've known about for a long time. As a child growing up in a Christian home and attending a Christian elementary school and Sunday school every week I heard about Hagar more than once or twice. I don't think I ever considered what lessons she would be able to teach me. Today in the devotional plan, Hagar is the woman that we watch. She is a slave to Sarai and Abram that they acquired while in Egypt. For all we see, Hagar and Sarai were completely satisfied with each other up to the point when Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands and get Abram a son through Hagar.
Poor Hagar! To be forced to marry your mistress' husband and bear him a child, I can't even begin to understand. Hagar learned of her pregnancy and despised Sarai because of it. She had no control over what happened to her because she was a slave and her mistress had forced her to do something she obviously didn't want to do.
After being mistreated by Sarai and running away and then being told by God to return and submit to Sarai with a promise that her son would become another great nation, Hagar returned to Sarai and continued to serve her while raising her son, Ishmael. Once Isaac was born, things changed. Sarah hated Ishmael because he was a threat to Isaac's inheritance and so she told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Hagar was sent and she took her son and they began to wander. When they were out of water and were so dehydrated that Hagar couldn't stand to watch Ishmael die, she left him under a bush and walked away before giving up herself. However, God heard Ishmael and directed Hagar to a well where she could fill her water. He took care of her needs and didn't abandon her.
We need to remember, when we feel hopeless and helpless, God will always be there. He's not going to forsake us or forget us.
-Meg
-maybe we should focus and pray like this each day of our lives "Good morning, Lord. I lift up my voice in desperate need of your mercy right now-this day! My only option is You." -She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-God is always by our side, we can't give up because he doesn't give up.
-Don't wait til you hit rock bottom to ask God for help.
-Tiff
Poor Hagar! To be forced to marry your mistress' husband and bear him a child, I can't even begin to understand. Hagar learned of her pregnancy and despised Sarai because of it. She had no control over what happened to her because she was a slave and her mistress had forced her to do something she obviously didn't want to do.
After being mistreated by Sarai and running away and then being told by God to return and submit to Sarai with a promise that her son would become another great nation, Hagar returned to Sarai and continued to serve her while raising her son, Ishmael. Once Isaac was born, things changed. Sarah hated Ishmael because he was a threat to Isaac's inheritance and so she told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Hagar was sent and she took her son and they began to wander. When they were out of water and were so dehydrated that Hagar couldn't stand to watch Ishmael die, she left him under a bush and walked away before giving up herself. However, God heard Ishmael and directed Hagar to a well where she could fill her water. He took care of her needs and didn't abandon her.
We need to remember, when we feel hopeless and helpless, God will always be there. He's not going to forsake us or forget us.
-Meg
-maybe we should focus and pray like this each day of our lives "Good morning, Lord. I lift up my voice in desperate need of your mercy right now-this day! My only option is You." -She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-God is always by our side, we can't give up because he doesn't give up.
-Don't wait til you hit rock bottom to ask God for help.
-Tiff
Monday, September 9, 2013
I was away at a cottage for the weekend, and there was no internet access and no phone signal, so I didn't do the devotional for the weekend. I am carrying on from where I left off.
Nothing - no matter how improbable, no matter how impossible it is to see, no matter how much it goes against everything we know - nothing is too hard for the Lord. - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
Abram is now called Abraham and Sarai is now Sarah. Not only has the Lord changed their names, He has promised them something that for all human understanding seemed impossible! After all, Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is only ten years younger. Have you ever heard of a ninety year old woman giving birth to a child? The only 90 year old mother I've ever heard of is Sarah. It seems that it is impossible, and yet, God caused it to happen. When we think that something can't happen, we tend to laugh at its absurdity, just as Sarah and Abraham laughed when they were promised a child in their old age. Sarah had already taken things into her own hands and tried to fulfill God's promise to Abraham through her slave Hagar, but God was going to carry out what seemed like an impossible plan anyway. We may not understand what God is doing, and we may feel as though we have messed our lives up beyond repair, but God isn't going to throw us away. He's not finished with us(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=typAqPJ-Zn8), and we're never beyond repair(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laIzsL0waTQ).
-Meg
-God is bigger! He is so much bigger than anything in our lives.
-"Because, with God, just like that, everything can change" - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-Sometimes we don't put our trust in God but he is always faithful.
-God looks beyond our mistakes.
-nothing is impossible for God.
-Tiff
Nothing - no matter how improbable, no matter how impossible it is to see, no matter how much it goes against everything we know - nothing is too hard for the Lord. - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
Abram is now called Abraham and Sarai is now Sarah. Not only has the Lord changed their names, He has promised them something that for all human understanding seemed impossible! After all, Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is only ten years younger. Have you ever heard of a ninety year old woman giving birth to a child? The only 90 year old mother I've ever heard of is Sarah. It seems that it is impossible, and yet, God caused it to happen. When we think that something can't happen, we tend to laugh at its absurdity, just as Sarah and Abraham laughed when they were promised a child in their old age. Sarah had already taken things into her own hands and tried to fulfill God's promise to Abraham through her slave Hagar, but God was going to carry out what seemed like an impossible plan anyway. We may not understand what God is doing, and we may feel as though we have messed our lives up beyond repair, but God isn't going to throw us away. He's not finished with us(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=typAqPJ-Zn8), and we're never beyond repair(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laIzsL0waTQ).
-Meg
-God is bigger! He is so much bigger than anything in our lives.
-"Because, with God, just like that, everything can change" - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-Sometimes we don't put our trust in God but he is always faithful.
-God looks beyond our mistakes.
-nothing is impossible for God.
-Tiff
Friday, September 6, 2013
This - this distrust for God's plan and His timing, this need to take control, this manipulation of circumstances to fit our "needs" instead of His will - this is when disaster happens. - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
Sarai is a beautiful woman. The only thing she doesn't have is a child to love. God promised that she would have one, but that's not good enough for Sarai, so she takes things into her own hands and decides to live vicariously through her slave. Oh. My. Word. I actually find this hard to believe, but looking at the culture of the time, I suppose that it was a socially acceptable thing for a man to have children with more than one woman. I still can't imagine being a wife and being ok with, let alone encouraging it, my husband sleeping with another woman, even if the purpose was to get a child. That's crazy! God has a plan. His plan is right. When you try to make your own plan to speed up His plan . . . you're headed for disaster! Look what happened when Sarai did that, she ended up hating Hagar and Hagar ended up despising Sarai. The child that Hagar had ended up being the father of a nation that now fights against Israel, Sarai's future descendants. My advice, to you and especially to myself: DON'T TRY TO HURRY GOD UP! God's timing is much better than yours, so back off and let Him lead.
-Meg
"And suddenly -though well- intentioned and innocently enough - God's plans become our own." - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-Sarai was impatient, she was tired of waiting for God's plan to fall into place, so she took it into her own hands.
-taking God's plans into our own hands can lead to disaster.
-waiting for God's plan to happen/to be done is often hard.
-we need to remember that God has a plan. thinking that I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 "11For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." (NLT)
-Tiff
Sarai is a beautiful woman. The only thing she doesn't have is a child to love. God promised that she would have one, but that's not good enough for Sarai, so she takes things into her own hands and decides to live vicariously through her slave. Oh. My. Word. I actually find this hard to believe, but looking at the culture of the time, I suppose that it was a socially acceptable thing for a man to have children with more than one woman. I still can't imagine being a wife and being ok with, let alone encouraging it, my husband sleeping with another woman, even if the purpose was to get a child. That's crazy! God has a plan. His plan is right. When you try to make your own plan to speed up His plan . . . you're headed for disaster! Look what happened when Sarai did that, she ended up hating Hagar and Hagar ended up despising Sarai. The child that Hagar had ended up being the father of a nation that now fights against Israel, Sarai's future descendants. My advice, to you and especially to myself: DON'T TRY TO HURRY GOD UP! God's timing is much better than yours, so back off and let Him lead.
-Meg
"And suddenly -though well- intentioned and innocently enough - God's plans become our own." - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-Sarai was impatient, she was tired of waiting for God's plan to fall into place, so she took it into her own hands.
-taking God's plans into our own hands can lead to disaster.
-waiting for God's plan to happen/to be done is often hard.
-we need to remember that God has a plan. thinking that I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 "11For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." (NLT)
-Tiff
Thursday, September 5, 2013
She simply said, "Yes." - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
Sarai is the wife of Abram. She is a woman who was considered very beautiful, but she was barren. She was settled in life with Abram and his relatives and other than wanting a child, probably was very comfortable with her life. God had other plans for her, however. He commanded Abram to pack everything up and move to a new place. Sarai simply went with Abram where God was leading. There is no indication of what her thoughts may have been on the matter, but we know she said yes. When God prompts us to do something, we should, like Sarai, simply do as He asks.
-Meg
"through faith and patience, we too can discover that all things are possible with the Lord"-She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-obeying God when he shows us a direction to take in life, ends good for us.
-we need to say yes to God.
Let this be our prayer, "Lord, help us put our doubt aside, to answer your call no matter the questions we may have. May we make obedience our first priority and submit to your plan and rest in your faithfulness, out of the greatest and deepest of loves, let us say 'yes' today."- She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1.
-Sarai had doubts but she obeyed God and did as her husband asked. She gave up everything to join her husband in following God's calling. We should see her as an example, and follow in her footsteps.
"2I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”" -Genesis 12:2-3 (NLT)
-Tiff
Sarai is the wife of Abram. She is a woman who was considered very beautiful, but she was barren. She was settled in life with Abram and his relatives and other than wanting a child, probably was very comfortable with her life. God had other plans for her, however. He commanded Abram to pack everything up and move to a new place. Sarai simply went with Abram where God was leading. There is no indication of what her thoughts may have been on the matter, but we know she said yes. When God prompts us to do something, we should, like Sarai, simply do as He asks.
-Meg
"through faith and patience, we too can discover that all things are possible with the Lord"-She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1
-obeying God when he shows us a direction to take in life, ends good for us.
-we need to say yes to God.
Let this be our prayer, "Lord, help us put our doubt aside, to answer your call no matter the questions we may have. May we make obedience our first priority and submit to your plan and rest in your faithfulness, out of the greatest and deepest of loves, let us say 'yes' today."- She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1.
-Sarai had doubts but she obeyed God and did as her husband asked. She gave up everything to join her husband in following God's calling. We should see her as an example, and follow in her footsteps.
"2I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”" -Genesis 12:2-3 (NLT)
-Tiff
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
2 Corinthians 11:1-3 (NIV)
I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led away from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Eve: the first woman ever created and the first human to disobey God. The serpent deceived Eve to the point where she added something to the command that God had given to Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 says: And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." In Genesis 3:1, the serpent asks a misleading question: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Eve is quick to answer and is doing really well until she adds the last part of her statement, "and you must not touch it, or you will die." God didn't say they couldn't eat from ANY tree and He did not say that TOUCHING the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would cause death. It was the ONLY tree they were not to EAT.
I know that in that situation, I would have made the same choice that Eve did, because I would see the serpent right in front of me and it's so much easier to believe someone who is tangible than someone who was not present in physical form. The serpent made Eve doubt what God had said and she twisted His words. I know that we are guilty of changing the word sometimes when we're in a tight corner. That doesn't make it the right thing to do.
Adam was there, with Eve. He had heard the words of God. He knew the command God had given and had obviously passed on the command to Eve. It may be that he had added the "DO NOT TOUCH" clause to the command, but the passage doesn't tell us. It tells us he was there while the serpent was deceiving Eve. He knew the exact command God had given, so why didn't he step in and tell the serpent to just go away and get lost? Not only did he not stop Eve from sinning, but he chose to sin himself.
As soon as they had eaten from the forbidden fruit, which, by the way, was never named, so I don't know why everyone thinks it was an apple . . . but that's not overly important . . . they were suddenly aware of their nakedness. Up to this point, they had been walking around the garden, completely unconcerned with the fact that they were not covered. As soon as they ate the fruit, they felt the need to cover themselves and so they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Their perfect innocence was lost, as was their communion with God. They were no longer pure and blameless.
Because they had chosen to disobey the one command God had given, they were cursed. The serpent was cursed too and then, to keep them from figuring out the way to live forever by eating the fruit from the Tree of Life, God had to send them out of the garden and set up a guard to prevent them from returning. Things were suddenly no longer the easy and wonderful life that had been Eden. They were going to have to work hard for the things they needed.
We are similar to Adam and Eve in the moment after they ate the fruit in the moments that follow our wrong choices. We are quick to realize that we made the wrong choice, but like Adam and Eve, we try to hide our shame from God. Just like God came looking for Adam and Eve in the garden, He wants us to go to Him when we have sinned. We still have to face the consequences of our actions, but God will forgive us if we ask Him to.
We need to spend our days absorbing the Truth. We need to read God's Word and be comparing the things that pastors and church leaders are telling us to what we see in the Bible. If something doesn't match up, then we need to go with the Truth of the Bible and discard what the teacher claimed. The Word of God is the final authority and if a human says something that is not in line with the Bible, they are deceiving you. Be in God's Word daily because when you're in the Word, it's much easier to spot the discrepancies and you can make the decisions you need to based on the Truth in the Word, rather than what your pastor or Sunday School teacher is telling you.
-Meg
I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led away from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Eve: the first woman ever created and the first human to disobey God. The serpent deceived Eve to the point where she added something to the command that God had given to Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 says: And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." In Genesis 3:1, the serpent asks a misleading question: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Eve is quick to answer and is doing really well until she adds the last part of her statement, "and you must not touch it, or you will die." God didn't say they couldn't eat from ANY tree and He did not say that TOUCHING the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would cause death. It was the ONLY tree they were not to EAT.
I know that in that situation, I would have made the same choice that Eve did, because I would see the serpent right in front of me and it's so much easier to believe someone who is tangible than someone who was not present in physical form. The serpent made Eve doubt what God had said and she twisted His words. I know that we are guilty of changing the word sometimes when we're in a tight corner. That doesn't make it the right thing to do.
Adam was there, with Eve. He had heard the words of God. He knew the command God had given and had obviously passed on the command to Eve. It may be that he had added the "DO NOT TOUCH" clause to the command, but the passage doesn't tell us. It tells us he was there while the serpent was deceiving Eve. He knew the exact command God had given, so why didn't he step in and tell the serpent to just go away and get lost? Not only did he not stop Eve from sinning, but he chose to sin himself.
As soon as they had eaten from the forbidden fruit, which, by the way, was never named, so I don't know why everyone thinks it was an apple . . . but that's not overly important . . . they were suddenly aware of their nakedness. Up to this point, they had been walking around the garden, completely unconcerned with the fact that they were not covered. As soon as they ate the fruit, they felt the need to cover themselves and so they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Their perfect innocence was lost, as was their communion with God. They were no longer pure and blameless.
Because they had chosen to disobey the one command God had given, they were cursed. The serpent was cursed too and then, to keep them from figuring out the way to live forever by eating the fruit from the Tree of Life, God had to send them out of the garden and set up a guard to prevent them from returning. Things were suddenly no longer the easy and wonderful life that had been Eden. They were going to have to work hard for the things they needed.
We are similar to Adam and Eve in the moment after they ate the fruit in the moments that follow our wrong choices. We are quick to realize that we made the wrong choice, but like Adam and Eve, we try to hide our shame from God. Just like God came looking for Adam and Eve in the garden, He wants us to go to Him when we have sinned. We still have to face the consequences of our actions, but God will forgive us if we ask Him to.
We need to spend our days absorbing the Truth. We need to read God's Word and be comparing the things that pastors and church leaders are telling us to what we see in the Bible. If something doesn't match up, then we need to go with the Truth of the Bible and discard what the teacher claimed. The Word of God is the final authority and if a human says something that is not in line with the Bible, they are deceiving you. Be in God's Word daily because when you're in the Word, it's much easier to spot the discrepancies and you can make the decisions you need to based on the Truth in the Word, rather than what your pastor or Sunday School teacher is telling you.
-Meg
In the devotion, they say it in a perfect way, better than I ever could. "I’m convinced that Eve gets a bad rap. Yes,
she deliberately disobeyed God. Yes, she was easily swayed. Yes, she
brought Adam down with her. (Though, to be fair, he made his own
decision to take a bite.)"- She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible Part 1. Proof of that statement can be found right in scripture, "6The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too." -Genesis 3:6 (NLT) . Adam was right there with Eve when she ate the fruit he willingly took it, Eve didn't have to convince him, he made the choice to eat the fruit all on his own. So I feel like we blame Eve so often but we forget that Adam and the serpent were both involved and they were both punished equally.
Today I think we are all subject to time where we choose sin over what is good, "We know truth and we live in it, but the lies just get so loud."-She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible Part 1. This statement reminds me of a passage from Scripture found in Romans "14So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.18And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart. 23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." -Romans 7:14-25(NLT), this is one of my favourite passages i scripture because it reminds me of the state at which all of us live.
-Tiff
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