Loving God and Others
I've been learning heaps about resting... and this is a crazy week - who'd have thought that?
Over the next few days or so I have to finish a novel, spur out 10 questions related to said novel and the author, write a 6 page reflective paper and study for a midterm in the same class as the paper. How daft is this - the crunch before reading break hits. But I am not here to complain - so please forgive me.
It's rather exhausting, all this work, hence my craving to seek that 'something more' that will keep me going.
A goal is to go through the whole Bible in one year - and sadly to say I'm 2 days behind (come on reading week!) though I believe that despite the business, I am excited that I have kept the momentum and diligence to be in the Bible daily. I have most recently been reading through Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and I have to say that I've actually learned things opposed to just scanning through measurements and names... particularly yesterday.
Yesterday was a huge reminder on obedience and love. It was that little voice in the back of my head causing me to remember that though things could be challenging, that our first and foremost instruction as followers of Jesus was summarized in various verses of my reading - to love Him, fear Him and worship Him with all our soul.
If you have some time and I hope you do, I think you should check out these chapters that can be found here. The following are some of the high-lighted bits in my Bible in case you don't have the time to read through the whole reading, but if I can ask you to take time out of your busy life to read further in and gain a greater idea about the context (highly, highly encourage it), please read the lot!
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 - Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 7:7 - The Lord set His heart on you and chose you, even though you didn't outnumber all the people. You were the smallest of all the nations.
Deuteronomy 7:9 - Keep in mind that the Lord your God is the only God. He is a faithful God, who keeps His promise and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love Him and obey His commands.
Deuteronomy 8:3b - He did this to teach you that a person cannot leave on bread alone but on every word the Lord speaks.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 - You may say to yourselves, "I became wealthy because of my own ability and strength." But remember the Lord your God is the one who makes you wealthy. He's confirming the promise which He swore to your ancestors. It's still in effect today.
Deuteronomy 9:3 - Realize today that the Lord your God is the one who is going ahead of you like a raging fire.
Deuteronomy 10:12b - He wants you to fear Him, follow all His directions, love Him, and worship Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 10:14 - Remember that the sky, the highest heaven, the earth and everything it contains belong to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 10:15 - The Lord set His heart on your ancestors and loved them. Because of this, today He chooses you, their descendants, out of all the people of the world.
Deuteronomy 10:21 - He is your glory. He is your God, who did for you these spectacular and awe-inspiringg deeds you saw with your own eyes.
Through these daily 'sits' with Jesus, I've learned that He requires not just the leftover bits of your day, but the bits that are important and crucial to you - not the dregs, if you will. But when you read the verses above, it's not hard to see why - if you were to truly love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength, the potential for change that we can see in ourselves is rather gargantuan. This is how I have found rest. By taking the time to turn off stimuli around me (good-bye phone, good-bye music, good-bye computer, good-bye dinging of new emails) and to come into the presence of the Most High - how is this not a good idea to kick-start not only your day but that deeper relationship with God?
I was reminded two months ago about something rather monumental and a little blurb in my Bible emphasized the very same thing to me yesterday.
Yes, stuff is busy. Yes, you may be living on Chaos Island. Yeah you've got commitments and practices and classes and readings and assignments and labs and family dinners and girl/boyfriends and ... ... ... the list can really and truly go on for decades. But keep in mind, this is the Creator of the universe. This is the maker of not only air and wind and grass and rain and rocks, but of DNA strands and mucous and ancient civilizations - where no two people look alike (unless they're twins but that's getting technical).
And He loves you and just wants to spend time with you.
Why do we blow Him off for measly novels and questions and assignments and midterms? They will wait. Your relationship should not.
Over the next few days or so I have to finish a novel, spur out 10 questions related to said novel and the author, write a 6 page reflective paper and study for a midterm in the same class as the paper. How daft is this - the crunch before reading break hits. But I am not here to complain - so please forgive me.
It's rather exhausting, all this work, hence my craving to seek that 'something more' that will keep me going.
A goal is to go through the whole Bible in one year - and sadly to say I'm 2 days behind (come on reading week!) though I believe that despite the business, I am excited that I have kept the momentum and diligence to be in the Bible daily. I have most recently been reading through Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and I have to say that I've actually learned things opposed to just scanning through measurements and names... particularly yesterday.
Yesterday was a huge reminder on obedience and love. It was that little voice in the back of my head causing me to remember that though things could be challenging, that our first and foremost instruction as followers of Jesus was summarized in various verses of my reading - to love Him, fear Him and worship Him with all our soul.
If you have some time and I hope you do, I think you should check out these chapters that can be found here. The following are some of the high-lighted bits in my Bible in case you don't have the time to read through the whole reading, but if I can ask you to take time out of your busy life to read further in and gain a greater idea about the context (highly, highly encourage it), please read the lot!
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 - Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 7:7 - The Lord set His heart on you and chose you, even though you didn't outnumber all the people. You were the smallest of all the nations.
Deuteronomy 7:9 - Keep in mind that the Lord your God is the only God. He is a faithful God, who keeps His promise and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love Him and obey His commands.
Deuteronomy 8:3b - He did this to teach you that a person cannot leave on bread alone but on every word the Lord speaks.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 - You may say to yourselves, "I became wealthy because of my own ability and strength." But remember the Lord your God is the one who makes you wealthy. He's confirming the promise which He swore to your ancestors. It's still in effect today.
Deuteronomy 9:3 - Realize today that the Lord your God is the one who is going ahead of you like a raging fire.
Deuteronomy 10:12b - He wants you to fear Him, follow all His directions, love Him, and worship Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 10:14 - Remember that the sky, the highest heaven, the earth and everything it contains belong to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 10:15 - The Lord set His heart on your ancestors and loved them. Because of this, today He chooses you, their descendants, out of all the people of the world.
Deuteronomy 10:21 - He is your glory. He is your God, who did for you these spectacular and awe-inspiringg deeds you saw with your own eyes.
Through these daily 'sits' with Jesus, I've learned that He requires not just the leftover bits of your day, but the bits that are important and crucial to you - not the dregs, if you will. But when you read the verses above, it's not hard to see why - if you were to truly love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength, the potential for change that we can see in ourselves is rather gargantuan. This is how I have found rest. By taking the time to turn off stimuli around me (good-bye phone, good-bye music, good-bye computer, good-bye dinging of new emails) and to come into the presence of the Most High - how is this not a good idea to kick-start not only your day but that deeper relationship with God?
I was reminded two months ago about something rather monumental and a little blurb in my Bible emphasized the very same thing to me yesterday.
Loving God and Others
People can get so wrapped up in doing God's work that they forget about loving God. How is this possible? People can forget the reason why they are serving. They serve with commitment and enthusiasm but forget that they are indeed serving God. Deuteronomy 11 clearly shows that we need to remember that we serve God because we love Him. Yes, we are supposed to do God's work. But first and foremost we are to love Him passionately. Are you busy doing God's work but forgetting why you do it? Read Deuteronomy 11:13 to learn what your relationship with God should be.
Yes, stuff is busy. Yes, you may be living on Chaos Island. Yeah you've got commitments and practices and classes and readings and assignments and labs and family dinners and girl/boyfriends and ... ... ... the list can really and truly go on for decades. But keep in mind, this is the Creator of the universe. This is the maker of not only air and wind and grass and rain and rocks, but of DNA strands and mucous and ancient civilizations - where no two people look alike (unless they're twins but that's getting technical).
And He loves you and just wants to spend time with you.
Why do we blow Him off for measly novels and questions and assignments and midterms? They will wait. Your relationship should not.
Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. - Matt. 11:28
Awesome post :) I am reminded of God's word to the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7. Thank you for sharing, and keep going, God will give you the energy to do what needs to be done before reading week!
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