Filled with awe

Habakkuk 3:2 (NLT)
     I have heard all about you, Lord.
          I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
     In this time of our deep need,
          help us again as you did in years gone by.
     And in your anger,
          remember your mercy.

I have heard about God and stand in absolute awe of Him. The works I have seen Him do in my own life defy all that I know, it goes so far beyond my understanding that I have begun to realise that in truth I know nothing. When I have been in greatest need, when I have had nothing and no one He has been there for me, He has provided. I know I have far to go and much to learn, I know there is much I need to do if I am to go and follow where He is leading me, now I am in need again I must once again rely on His giving. Many things I do, many times now and in the future I am the cause of God's anger, yet I am confident that in and through His son Jesus His mercy and grace will be sufficient to redeem me once again. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

     Trust in the LORD with all your heart
          and lean not on your own understanding;
          in all your ways submit to him,
          and he will make your paths straight.

Trust in the Lord always

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
     Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

It's difficult not knowing things, when you don't know what is going on, how things are going to work out or where they are going. We often want to do things our way, the way we understand things , the way we think things should be done. We often fall into the trap of believing that we know what is best for our lives, that we more than anyone understand our situation and circumstances.

So often in life we want to rely on our own understanding and strength, and then we end up upset and disappointed when our plans don't work and we have essentially failed ourselves. Often we try and find external causes and reasons for our failure but in the end the blame often ends up being our own whether we admit it or not.

Trusting in the Lord with all our heart is the only way to guarantee positive results. It is not by relying on our own plans or our intelligence and understanding that we will achieve the only thing that really matters. If we acknowledge Him and His plans, follow His ways then we can be sure that our paths will always be straight.

Proverbs 15:1

Proverbs 15:1

     A gentle answer turns away wrath,
          but a harsh word stirs up anger.

This verse keeps cropping up for me. It has been on my mind recently and twice in the last two days this verse has been there in front of me. The first time was in the Bible study plan I am following at present and the second was in the book I am reading through.

I am a firm believer in God using sometimes quite mundane ways to talk to us. It could be one song that speaks to you repeatedly coming on the radio or like frequently happens to me, the same Bible verse keeps cropping up. Now I think I know what is being said by this verse to me personally. I have a short temper at times, and recently it has been exceptionally short. Since the snow hit us I have lost my temper on the road so many times and have had my fuse cut down to a dangerously short length.

It is not for other people that the length is dangerously short for, I can unless really stressed keep my temper under control. I may shout and say things I shouldn't at times but I never "lose" it. But when this red mist descends I am aware that I am not acting like the Christian I should. When I lose my temper I always make it worse by being hostile myself. My harsh words stir up a lot of anger. I know I need to learn to swallow this anger and always reply with a gentle answer. I know that like Jesus I should always humble myself and be strong enough to back down and not provoke or instigate further anger.

In my life I have never felt as though God has been telling me off. He teaches me lessons all the time and often tells me I am doing things wrong. He always gives me the gentle answer, he always avoids doing what would stir up anger inside me. And I know this is because He is our perfect everlasting God who created all that is, but it is still amazing don't you think? I will never be able to get my head around the grace and goodness He shows me, but I will also never be anything but thankful for everything He has done and will do for me if I have faith in Him.

For God is our refuge

Psalm 62:1-8 (NIV)
Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down-
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

I have no idea why this passage came to mind to me this evening, I sat down to decide what it was that I was going to write about and all that was in my head were the words Psalm Sixty-two. I didn't even know what the verse was until I looked it up. However when I looked it up this verse is the reminded me of one of my favourite songs I used to sing with the local youth choir.

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be the name of the Lord Most High
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be the name of the Lord Most High

The name of the Lord is a strong tower
The righteous run into it and they are saved
The name of the Lord is a strong tower
The righteous run into it and they are saved

                                      (Clinton Utterbach)

This song is based on another Bible verse that says a similar thing to what Psalm 62 does. The verse that this song is based on is Proverbs 18:10 which is a powerful verse.

Proverbs 18:10

     The name of the LORD is a fortified tower;
     the righteous run to it and are safe.

This week has been quite hard for me, I have had very little time to get everything done and I have had some big conversations with close friends, family and Church members about some major decisions in my near and mid term future. However despite the fact that I have been feeling the pressure and been struggling to cope with things I have had a great sense of calm. Every time I have been feeling down or felt myself slipping in to a trough I have been boosted by something I have read or been told. I am sure that the reason that I have coped and been lifted is because I have been relying more on God than I have in the past. God is my refuge and my fortress, He is my strength and my shield and my protector in all things. 

More parallels

I know that I shouldn't be amazed by how God works but I always am. This morning I did two main things, first I read my daily Bible plan when I woke up and second I attended a meeting with my local Church leaders. I spent well over an hour discussing the future and my place in it and the ways of getting there. It was an amazing discussion that was enlightening for all three of us who were there.

The main point of the discussion was about how to get my family on board with the plans for my life and have some sort of support from them. We discussed ways to heal wounds that I have caused in the past and methods to persuade them that the plans I am following are the right ones for me.

So back to the beginning, what was the link here? Well the Bible verse and meeting were both about parents and the Bible verse is a surprising parallel to what was discussed in the meeting.

Proverbs 23:22 (NIV)
     Listen to your father who gave you life,
     and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Not only this but also in the meeting the Bible verse the ministers used to wrap up and end our meeting was also from Proverbs.

Proverbs 3 (NIV)
My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

Honour the LORD with your wealth,
with the first fruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.

I know I shouldn't be but I am always amazed when I see God working in my life, I hope that I will never lose that sense of wonder and amazement when seeing God's work.

Wealth of wisdom

I was reading my daily bible verse as supplied by my phone today and decided to take a closer look. The verse today was;

Proverbs 20:9 (KJV)  

    Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? 

Now it is not so much the verse that I want to talk about today, rather the whole book of Proverbs and the Bible. This book is such a fantastic collection of wisdom that has been  handed down to us, but how many of us are actually aware of much that is in there? It is one of those books that I know about, I know what it is, but in reality I know next to nothing about it. I know it is a collection of sayings from Old Testament times, I know that many are thought to be written by Solomon but my knowledge ends there. 

As those who have followed this blog for a while know I am reading my way through the Street Bible and have at times mentioned it in passing. Well Proverbs was one of those books that while reading through caught my attention. I have never really paid it much attention and have never really heard anyone talk about it much. And for me that covers some big sections of the Bible, I know a little about it but just surface facts. When reading the Street Bible I realised there was much in the Bible I needed to reread in its entirety. 

I have currently a significant collection of books that I am trying to read through and this has meant I have squeezed in extra reading time into my schedule to try and get through these books quicker. There is so much that I want to know, reading and learning it is becoming a mammoth task. Even so I am going to make myself a new commitment, I will read the whole Bible, cover to cover. I know that I will not be able to start this until at least next week due to my busy weekend but it is something I feel is essential. I know parts of the Bible very well and have studied sections in detail but I have never read it as I would any other book. In the past I have dipped in and out of the Bible but never just read it as I would any other book.

So from a simple daily verse I am committing myself to yet another project that will take up a considerable part of my life for some time to come. However as with my other commitments like this blog and the Soldiers Challenge there is so much I am learning and gaining from them that they have ceased to be a burden and are now thoroughly incorporated into my life. If this is what it takes to make me find space in my life to do regular and consistent Bible study then it can only be a good thing.

God First

Proverbs 1:7
        Start with God-the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
            only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

Yesterday I ended my post with the phrase "In all things first look to God" and have been thinking about it since. When I came to write this post I wasn't going to write about this, I only intended to write using a verse from Proverbs. It's amazing how things come together even when we don't intend them too.

As Christians there is one thing we should always do, look to God. If we focus on Him and live in constant prayer then we are at least on the right track. As the verse above says the first step in learning is bowing down to God. We need to understand that God is awesome and worthy of praise. He is so fantastically beyond anything we can imagine that the only right thing to do is bow down before Him. Through Jesus we are able to come before God and enter into a relationship with Him. It is all too easy to misunderstand just how awesome God is and because of that let our relationship with Him falter.

In God is an amazing opportunity for us all, we can not let ignorance or misunderstanding to prevent us from being all we should be. We need to learn all we can about God and what He wants us to do, and the first step in this is to bow down to Him. If we follow this instruction and learn to serve humanity as Jesus instructed us to then we will be heading in the right direction.