These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
-Acts 17:11
I came to a point last week where I was, as you would say, at my wits end. I'd HAD it. I was done! I was giving up, failing miserably at finding my God. Where was He in my life? I couldn't see Him working. I wasn't doing anything actively for Him really. I had no peace. I was not happy. Days dragged on. I was MISERABLLLE with no particular reason why...
Let me just say right now, it's AMAZING what crying out to the LORD in sheer desperation can do. It's a miracle what praying can do. It is a miracle what the bible can do on a daily basis in your life.
Somewhere deep inside me I have a desperate need to learn more about God. To be closer to Him, to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"
-I Peter 3:15
Maybe I could find my answers at bible college. I've prayed off and on about going, but this last week I specifically prayed night and day for the Lord to guide me and show me clearly that this was exactly where HE wanted me to be. He didn't. He doesn't want me there... You want to know why? (:
Because ONE, HE is the Greatest Teacher.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
-Matthew 11:29
And TWO, because He had a greater lesson for me to learn here.
Let me explain-
Tonight I was invited to a movie, and I ended up having a conversation with Shannon about her driving to North Pole to get a college book from a friend to study, leaving it there because he needed to finish his homework as she drove back into town, to to have to turn right back around after the movie to pick it up again and finish her homework. It was already 9pm, and the movie was who knows how long(: It was going to be a late night. It got me to thinking about the last two or three now, years of up-all-nighters. Coffee and english papers. Getting in the online homework 2minutes before midnight. All that jazz. I even rememebered the time I ran through every campus building to get to my class to turn in an essay in which the paper was still warm when I handed it to him (with a smirk) from being just freshly printed.
What does this have to do with seeking the Lord's will for my life? Seek to study Jesus like you do your college, Emily.
I know God is everywhere, and I know I can serve Him anywhere- but I need to be disciplined enough to sit down and read my bible everyday... and I'm not!! Bible college would be hours and hours a week devoted to serving Him and I would be constantly encouraged to read. That is exactly what I need Lord! No. What I need is to read. What I need is a GOD-GIVEN DESIRE and LOVE for Christ that gives me a "want to." Not a HAVE to. Not the safe playing field where I go to hear and to listen (which is very important obviously) but a place where HEARING and DOING are one in the same.
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."
-James 1:22-24
I don't want to go to a bible college for a year, see myself make some changes, and FORGET what I look like.
The fact of the matter is, if I can't serve God here... I can't serve God ANYWHERE.
So tonight, what I am doing is acting like I'm in college. Even though I've take this semester off, I am actually AT UAF, in the library, studying James, because that is what we are studying as a church.
Again, Acts 17:11 says, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
And yes, it's 10pm. I scratched the movie. After all, I'm studying. And yes, I still have to be up for work at 4am, and yes, I still have to drive all the way home, and no, I'm not going to get a lot of sleep. But you know something? If I had a Microbiology test tomorrow, it wouldn't matter. In fact, I would prabably be here all night long. How convicting is that?
REALLY QUICK NOW. I've thought about what's important when you're in college.
1st and foremost, it's prrrobably to simply show up. Be in class. Well, 1st and foremost, be in church.
-Hebrews 10:25
2ndly, Read your textbook! Yep, that's right. God's Word. And I'm the WORST at reading my textbook.
-Psalm 119:105 Really awesome verse. The Word is enlighting! (: Especially when we don't know where to place our feet.
At the end of your textbook chapters there is always those good ole' "personal application" questions (that I never answer)- well, answer them. Apply scriptures to your life like they are your own. They are yours when you do.
Memorize for the tests. Psalm 119:11
Do your homework.
What is the bible commanding of you today? And asking yourself how can you fufill that in your life today? John 14:15
Talk to your Teacher.
Yes,,, prayer. What a great gift of God. Psalm 62:8
Consider the reward.
- I LOVE getting an A on a test more than I love coffee. That's HUGE!!
Genesis 15:1
Luke 6:35
Consider the cost.
Tution is going up AGAIN. It has already risen by what, 10 percent? 20?? College is getting super expensive in a world where our dollars are getting fewer. Have you counted the cost? Luke 14:28-33
What about Jesus Christ's cost? Acts 11:17
(Who are you, by the way, that you can withstand God?)
I'm going to take His yoke upon me and learn of Him. Where He leads I am fully intendent on going, but I will only take a step when His hand is moving me.
Thanks for the comments, I love to hear from you- and those of you that read my blog and don't have one of your own (Michelle) *cough*cough*hack* you should strongly consider getting one. Love you all!
-Acts 17:11
I came to a point last week where I was, as you would say, at my wits end. I'd HAD it. I was done! I was giving up, failing miserably at finding my God. Where was He in my life? I couldn't see Him working. I wasn't doing anything actively for Him really. I had no peace. I was not happy. Days dragged on. I was MISERABLLLE with no particular reason why...
Let me just say right now, it's AMAZING what crying out to the LORD in sheer desperation can do. It's a miracle what praying can do. It is a miracle what the bible can do on a daily basis in your life.
Somewhere deep inside me I have a desperate need to learn more about God. To be closer to Him, to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"
-I Peter 3:15
Maybe I could find my answers at bible college. I've prayed off and on about going, but this last week I specifically prayed night and day for the Lord to guide me and show me clearly that this was exactly where HE wanted me to be. He didn't. He doesn't want me there... You want to know why? (:
Because ONE, HE is the Greatest Teacher.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
-Matthew 11:29
And TWO, because He had a greater lesson for me to learn here.
Let me explain-
Tonight I was invited to a movie, and I ended up having a conversation with Shannon about her driving to North Pole to get a college book from a friend to study, leaving it there because he needed to finish his homework as she drove back into town, to to have to turn right back around after the movie to pick it up again and finish her homework. It was already 9pm, and the movie was who knows how long(: It was going to be a late night. It got me to thinking about the last two or three now, years of up-all-nighters. Coffee and english papers. Getting in the online homework 2minutes before midnight. All that jazz. I even rememebered the time I ran through every campus building to get to my class to turn in an essay in which the paper was still warm when I handed it to him (with a smirk) from being just freshly printed.
What does this have to do with seeking the Lord's will for my life? Seek to study Jesus like you do your college, Emily.
I know God is everywhere, and I know I can serve Him anywhere- but I need to be disciplined enough to sit down and read my bible everyday... and I'm not!! Bible college would be hours and hours a week devoted to serving Him and I would be constantly encouraged to read. That is exactly what I need Lord! No. What I need is to read. What I need is a GOD-GIVEN DESIRE and LOVE for Christ that gives me a "want to." Not a HAVE to. Not the safe playing field where I go to hear and to listen (which is very important obviously) but a place where HEARING and DOING are one in the same.
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."
-James 1:22-24
I don't want to go to a bible college for a year, see myself make some changes, and FORGET what I look like.
The fact of the matter is, if I can't serve God here... I can't serve God ANYWHERE.
So tonight, what I am doing is acting like I'm in college. Even though I've take this semester off, I am actually AT UAF, in the library, studying James, because that is what we are studying as a church.
Again, Acts 17:11 says, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
And yes, it's 10pm. I scratched the movie. After all, I'm studying. And yes, I still have to be up for work at 4am, and yes, I still have to drive all the way home, and no, I'm not going to get a lot of sleep. But you know something? If I had a Microbiology test tomorrow, it wouldn't matter. In fact, I would prabably be here all night long. How convicting is that?
REALLY QUICK NOW. I've thought about what's important when you're in college.
1st and foremost, it's prrrobably to simply show up. Be in class. Well, 1st and foremost, be in church.
-Hebrews 10:25
2ndly, Read your textbook! Yep, that's right. God's Word. And I'm the WORST at reading my textbook.
-Psalm 119:105 Really awesome verse. The Word is enlighting! (: Especially when we don't know where to place our feet.
At the end of your textbook chapters there is always those good ole' "personal application" questions (that I never answer)- well, answer them. Apply scriptures to your life like they are your own. They are yours when you do.
Memorize for the tests. Psalm 119:11
Do your homework.
What is the bible commanding of you today? And asking yourself how can you fufill that in your life today? John 14:15
Talk to your Teacher.
Yes,,, prayer. What a great gift of God. Psalm 62:8
Consider the reward.
- I LOVE getting an A on a test more than I love coffee. That's HUGE!!
Genesis 15:1
Luke 6:35
Consider the cost.
Tution is going up AGAIN. It has already risen by what, 10 percent? 20?? College is getting super expensive in a world where our dollars are getting fewer. Have you counted the cost? Luke 14:28-33
What about Jesus Christ's cost? Acts 11:17
(Who are you, by the way, that you can withstand God?)
I'm going to take His yoke upon me and learn of Him. Where He leads I am fully intendent on going, but I will only take a step when His hand is moving me.
Thanks for the comments, I love to hear from you- and those of you that read my blog and don't have one of your own (Michelle) *cough*cough*hack* you should strongly consider getting one. Love you all!
Em
PROVERBS 15:28
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
PROVERBS 15:28
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
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