God Knows!

Last night we did a neat thing in Refresh (our midweek service) Can't say it was something all that original.. but still neat. Our pastor had a white board with 24 or so verse references written on it. He had folks choose a verse and then read it and then we talked about what the promise was in the verse.. Like Jer. 33:3.. Call on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know.. promise? We call .. he answers.  Heb. 13:5  never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.. promise? ALWAYS with you!  They we had a time of intentional intercession.. prayed over some folks who had needs.. prayed for others who were not there, but we knew of needs. It was a sweet time. AND it reminded me that I did something similar in Lifegroups last year. My teacher called me one Sunday at last minute to teach. I had not looked at the lesson, so had to wing it. God had been speaking to me about his promises and how we are to stand on them. So we read promises and talked about what they meant and how we could apply them to our lives. As a result, I started am index card ring binder for God's Promises. I would write a verse or verses in it when I saw a promise and then it was something I had to just flip through when I needed encouragement... didn't know what to pray etc.  As if often the case, I did great for a bit and then let it fall to the wayside. SO I pulled it out and started again today.. I decided to just flip it open and whatever verse I landed on would be a promise I could stand on today.. so here is what I read..

The Mighty One, God, the Lord!  The Mighty One, God, the Lord!  God Knows! 

 Joshua 22:22  

Not one you hear often, is it? But I really love the truth.. the promise in this verse.  How often do we not know.. I don't know how we are going to pay for a new roof.. I don't know how we will make it with a decrease in salary... I don't know how she will survive this illness.. I don't know how this marriage can be saved.. and on and on. But see the thing is we don't have to know!  God Knows!  That is all we need.. we can turn to Him and say "I don't know (whatever) but You do! And Lord I am trusting in You.. the Mighty One.. God.. the Lord!"  

That.. for me.. is a great promise to stand on!

2013 Word of the Year Take 2

I am about to start teaching the Spring Bible study for ladies at my church. We are going to step back and do an older Beth Moore Study.. Believing God. I did this one years ago and it still impacts my life. One of the best studies I have ever done.

Last night I piled up and watched the first video....preview and getting ready for when we start next week.  She talks in the video and the work book about the verse that started her on this journey to Believe God.. take Him at His Word.  It is Isa. 43:10...

     You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, 

     so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He.

KNOW and BELIEVE

Last year my word of the year was a pair of words.. Less.. More.. I think I will amend my 2013 word of the year to be a pair also.. Know.. Believe.

Know there is the Hebrew word Yada ... that intimate knowing that I talked about in my original post.  Believe is the Hebrew word Aman which means to trust, believe, have assurance in, have faith in, put trust in.. and when I look at it, I can't help but see Amen.  So I did a bit of research on the word Amen and found that while it does show up in Greek and Aramaic, its roots are in the Hebrew Aman.

As I grow to know God better.. deeper.. I'll be able to Aman what I knew.. to trust the one who is the Amen (Rev. 3:14)

No matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Cor. 1:20

2013 Word of the Year

I am extremely tardy posting this.. but not as tardy as 2012. I was looking back to see all the words I have chosen since starting this tradition of having a word of the year... 2008 was the first year and my word was Gratitude (I never posted it here)... 2009 -  Peace... 2010 - Change ... 2011 - Choice ... 2012 -- Less / More .. I never posted about it!  Needless to say 2012 was not a good blog year... I really did not put the time and energy into it that I needed to. Hoping 2013 will be better.

So now on to 2013's word... I have known what my word would be for a while.. really before 1/1/2013.. God started speaking to my heart about it months ago...  the word is KNOW.

Know.... might seem an odd word, but there are several aspects of it that God is working in my life.

First off... an rather obvious.. is a need to KNOW Him... not just Know about Him but really Know Him.  The Hebrew word for Know is Yada and it means to know .. well in the Biblical sense... Adam knew Eve.. to be intimate with someone. Now I am not talking about sex .. I am talking about knowing someone so deeply.. so intimately.. like a husband and wife know each other.. that is how we are to know God .. what I am striving for in my relationship with Him this year.  To Know Him more... deeper... in ways I have never known Him before.  And I will confess that the thought of that excites me and scares me.  I have grown in my relationship with the Lord most in the difficult times.... and I fear the answer to that prayer.. to know Him more.. might require a walk through the valley.. but I also know it will be worth it, if that is the path He has chosen for me.

Second... as I think of wanting to Know Him.. to Yada Him.. I am struck by the reality that He already knows me that intimately.  Read Psalm 139!  In fact, He Yadas me more than any other person / being ever has and ever will... more than my parents.. more than my children.. my best friends.. even more than my husband, who knows me better than anyone else on this earth.  No human can know me the way and to the depths that God knows me.. in fact, I don't even know me as well as He knows me!  Mind boggling, isn't it!?  This year I want to grasp that.. to realize I don't have to hide the real me.. to pretend to be who I think He wants me to be. I can trust Him with all of me because He already knows Me.. and He loves me even in the messed up state I am in.

Third.. I want to Know His Word more.. some of that is practical knowing.. I am striving to dig in and study more.. to memorize more Scripture this year.. but again, I am striving for something deeper. I want to Know His Word not just in my head, but in my life.. I want to see it at work and KNOW without a shadow of a doubt the realities of it. When I say that God will supply all my needs I want to KNOW that to my core.. when I say He will never leave me or forsake me, I want to KNOW it without a trace of doubt... I want His Word to be a part of me... as Hebrews 4:12 says, it is living and active.. I want it to be living and active in me.

So I am striving to KNOW more this year... not just head Knowledge.. heart knowledge that is walked out in my life and that glorifies God so that others see Him and not me.

I want to be able to say with Paul...  

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  (Phil. 3:7)