So, how long have you been reading and studying the same translation? Or, do you study multiple translations at the same time?
One of the key things that God has continued prompt me to do over the last 10 years, is to change the translations that I read and study (as well as) studying multiple translations when I am deep diving into a particular place in Scripture. What I have discovered is that it continually prompts me to ask questions. To not take things at face value. But to seek and search as we are urge to do throughout Scripture. If you have been in the same translation for several years, I would love to challenge you to ask God what translation He would like you to read now. You might find that it completely reawakens your love of the Word & makes you pause and not gloss over Scripture’s you have know for years. The examples I have shown is just one small piece of WHY this is so important to understand. ~Cheryl
0 Comments
You know I’ve been thinking about this on a deeper level. Truth is, It could happen to any of us, right? The problem is that there is only one Truth. So not every single person can be right and I don’t know about you, but that makes me tremble with the fear of the Lord.
I read a book a few years back by Anne Graham Lots called “Storming the Gates of Heaven” and in her time with God she came to this place where she was called to evaluate her life and looked at the following areas seeing if she needed repentance: Ingratitude, neglect of Bible reading, unbelief, neglect of prayer, lack of concern for the souls of others, neglect of family, love of the world and material things, pride, envy, a critical spirit vs discernment, slander, lack of seriousness towards God, lying, cheating, hypocrisy, temper, arrogance. I don’t think this is a one and done thing. I can tell you from personal experience that it means surrendering yourself, it means listening to the Holy Spirit and it means not putting walls up when God says “you’re wrong” in a particular area. There is nothing about this walk that is not meant to be intentional. Before I stopped running from God I had a very yo-yo Faith but I could never explain why I was suddenly just no longer there but, what I’ve learned is that if we are not on constant alert it is the little compromises that begin the slow fade away. I think that’s why we’ve been called to be sober minded & alert. The enemy is slick. He is merciless. But most importantly he never deviates from his mission to steal, to kill and to destroy. If you are interested in taking a self evaluation go to my website and there is a PDF file attached under the “Studies” tab, it is the last thing listed. You might ask, “What is the difference?“ The difference is that one focuses on the past. The other focuses on the future and walking into who you were always meant to be [in] Christ.
You cannot truly know yourself if you do not know your Creator. A believer becomes a new creation. If & when you were baptized [I am talking full body immersion], you were to have left your old life in the water but maybe you need a revelation of that truth. You were created on purpose. You were uniquely designed by God [Father, Son & Holy Spirit]. A believer is redeemed. A believer is restored. One can seek and search and have and acquire everything this world offers and still be missing something. We will always be incomplete without HIM. So I ask you today as my brother and sister in Christ are you wrapped up & consumed by your past or are you moving forward and becoming? We can read all the self-help books we want, we can take all the personality test that are out there and we can use every tool the world throws at us or we can get in the presence of our God and find every answer we ever need. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could walk out life truly knowing your purpose? Never wavering from your mission? With abundant joy despite circumstances? It is possible. Jesus is the answer. Don’t let the behavior of somebody allow you to see God in the wrong light. Don’t let the enemy steal what is freely offered. There is a promise in the Word of God that I have stood on for over 10 years. It’s found in Jeremiah 29:13 and it says, “If you seek Me, you will find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” I can promise you with every fiber of my being that He has answered my cry time and time again. This feels like such a strange thing to put out there but, if you think about it— people know when something is not true or real— and it just makes us less believable.
It is a part of our process to be more like Him today than we were yesterday. It means that, I should instinctively and naturally respond more like Him today than I did yesterday. Why? It’s about the pursuit of relationship. It’s about the pursuit of what I fill myself with. What’s the first thing I read? What’s the last thing I hear? What do I wake up pondering? Ultimately it is a supernatural phenomenon that can only be understood when you experience something that you KNOW you would have responded a certain way BEFORE Christ and you find yourself responding so vastly different that you know it was NOTHING you did out of behavior modification. It is in THAT moment that the “idea” of the Word of God LITERALLY being living & active & the REALITY of the inward working of the Holy Spirit becomes a TRUTH that no one can take from you. |
AuthorLife IS ministry. I choose to live [in] Christ. Jesus Freak. Hugger. Daughter. Wife. Mom. Friend. Disciple Maker. Talent Sharer. Girl Boss. Challenger. Archives
August 2021
Categories |