September 16

           I have been reading through the Psalms lately, and I’ve found it to be imparting because the words I am reading seem to reflect the emotions I am feeling. In my own life, I go from feelings unsatisfied, impatient, and restless to desperately seeking contentment and joy from the Lord. My thoughts drift somewhere between trying to learn how to live day-by-day and the uncontrollable excitement for what God has for me in the future.

         I am not sure what the proper balance between is between living today to its fullest and looking toward the future for what God has in store. I know God has great and wonderful plans for my life and I want to follow that path to the best of my ability. However, sometimes the knowledge of a “better future” causes me to be exceedingly impatient and restless. I feel like I am wasting time; I should be doing something greater. Yet, I know now is the time where I am being told to wait and stop making plans but blindly follow the Lord… which is not my strong point! 

Psalm 16

 ¹ Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge

² I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

…

 ⁵ LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.

 …

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,

…

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

every night...

I keep dreaming of you.

Jeremiah 9 - 16

9:24 "But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."


11:4b "Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God."


*What a beautiful promise.


12:1-17 *In chapter 12, Jeremiah is asking why good things happen to evil people. The Lord answers and tells Jeremiah that the evil people will in time receive their punishment. I think it is important to remember that Christ will punish his people when and how he chooses. 


*Another thought I had regarding this chapter is that so may times we envy the prosper times of other people. However, I know that with out all the trials I have gone through I would NOT have learned more about Christ and my faith would NOT have grown. So why envy the evil person? Maybe Christ is not even wasting his time trying to teach them his righteous way. The Lord is not teaching them anything. I need to learn to rejoice in my trials because it means God is taking his time to refine my faith or punish me for my sins because, as a parent punishes a child out of love, so Christ gives me trials to in the end have a healthier, stronger, and more beautiful community with himself.


15:20b "They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD."

Rest for your souls.

CLICK on the picture to expand.

[This picture was taking in Haiti, March 2011, by me]

Jeremiah 1-8

1:8 "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,
         declares the LORD."

1:19 "They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

2:27-28 *This verse speaks of how the Israelites only came to the Lord in time of trouble. This is very convicting in my own life because I am the prime example of someone who has a tendency to forget God when things are great and seek God when time are tough.

3:10 "Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD."

Pretense: an attempt to make something that is false appear true. False display of feelings.

*We all need to have a heart check each and every time we come to Christ. We cannot fool our savior with a half-hearted approach. 

3:22 "Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness."

* All we have to do is COME. We do not need to have everything figured out or have our lives together before we come. God alone is the only one who can truly heal our souls... just go to Him.

7:23 "Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you."

8:11 *It seems that all throughout Jeremiah the people of Israel are convincing themselves that everything to okay. They seem to constantly lie saying there is peace, when in reality God keeps saying there is NO peace. I know that a lot of times in my life I constantly lie to myself to hide guilt, shame, or fears. However, once again, we cannot fool our Lord. 

Reading my love letter.

I have been challenging myself lately to sit down and read through the Bible as though it were a story. I put aside all my commentaries and study bibles. For the first time in my life, I am reading the Bible as a love letter written to me. I started in jeremiah, merely because that is where I was when I decided to change my approach, and I am loving the way the word of God flows. Scripture seems more personal, and Christ seems closer. As though a father is watching their child read. Throughout my reading, I will post some verses that stuck out to me and some notes that came to mind.

Antiques

Went antique shopping with my dear roommate Brandi and found a couple of great things...

On sale :)

Old hardback books. Wuthering Heights was my favorite.