The Journey Continues...and is almost Complete!

In more ways than one, the Journey is almost complete. This year, if you are a 'reader of this blog' this is NOT news, our church has taken the Journey through the New Testament as a congregation!

And, so, our 'reading together' time is almost finished. We are a little over 1/2 way finished with Revelation (the last book in the New Testament) and the year ends in roughly 11 days. And, so those are the 'more than one way' that the Journey is almost complete.

Of course, life's journey isn't over, and even when we pass to eternity, it's only begun! The journey through God's Word is a never-ending journey, as well. I firmly believe that it is impossible to 'love God with all your heart mind soul & strength' and ignore His word to us...it must be as life-blood to us, as believers!

As we've drawn closer to the end of the book this December, I've had a lot of questions. Mostly about my own ability to understand and apply what I'm reading in the book of Revelation. I would have to admit that I've often thought of that portion of scripture with an anxiousness....too complicated, too shrouded in imagery and numbers and signs, too lofty, too many details and too hard to understand are among the reasons I've quietly side-stepped the 'book' before now.

Along with choosing to take the Journey this year, I also have been teaching in our Sunday school class from the portion of scripture reading we do each week. To find myself approaching the Book of Revelation was no small matter for me. Only a LOT intimidating. I'm not going to offer some long theological explanation for what I've found there. However, I will share with you what I've discovered, and this with the help of a Faithful, Loving Heavenly Father!

The book of Revelation is a book about how to worship an eternal, Holy God! It is a glimpse of what the actual end will look like. It gives us not only hope, because we belong to God, but it also gives us the very reason that people shy away from it. (too hard to understand, too complicated, too many images, etc., etc., etc.) I honestly believe that Satan uses those excuses to keep us from reading it--to keep us from attaining the blessing that is promised to those who read the words contained there. He also knows that he will be defeated, and that truth is explicitly depicted there...we, who belong to Jesus, have absolutely nothing to fear. Fear, however, is one of Satan's greatest tools for tripping up those who proclaim Christ. If he can keep us from opening up God's Word, and in particular, the book of Revelation, that helps him succeed in seperating us from truth.

The book talks about 'those that overcome'...to be an 'overcomer' we must:
Accept the gift of salvation from the sacrifice that Christ made by dying on the cross
Live out the truth of God's Word (that means reading it and applying it to our lives!)
Daily sacrifice our own will for the Will of Christ...

Let's be found faithful! Faithful to God's word, all of it!

What Satisfies You?

Thanks for the comments from the last post that I did on this blog! I'm going to do some more research before I launch a blog about grief/grieving with hope...but, keep the comments coming.

I feel that God is very near. I feel that He gives me inspired ideas for things to write and say...I just have to listen and obey, and sometimes, I fail miserably at both!--His mercy is great, I am living proof!

This fall has been a busy, no, very busy season for me! This hit me just today...I had lunch with a couple of friends...they are a delight to 'lunch' with...but I started re-counting the things that have had my attention since August! Let me just say that it would certainly was easy for me to let some things slide. One example would be 'up-to-date' posts on this blog!

Women's ministry launched, at the beginning of September, the Beth Moore study of Daniel. WOW! What a study. What a challenge. A challenge to not only learn the material, but to keep up!

What a blessing it is to stretch out and grasp new concepts and challenges that God's Word presents! Daniel certainly was just that! God's word, though, as a whole is a fascinating book...and the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know! --Which means that studying it for me should be endless! And, God is faithful to help in the understanding and application, as long as we're willing to put in the time and resolve to 'just do it'! (study, that is!)

Our Monday afternoon group just moved from Exodus to Joshua...that is an exciting time! And our congregation is going through the New Testament together, one chapter each week day this year. Amazingly enough, all these have tied together somehow in my brain to where they each enhance the other! God's Word is like that, isn't it? --Holy, Timeless, Applicable--1,500 years ago, as well as today!, and above all: Living! God's word is like food for our soul...actually that's why we crave it, if we have the Holy Spirit living in us...because Holy Spirit craves God's Word! In our human-ness we try to thwart the craving with other 'stuff' but, nothing satisfies except the Word!--Not anything!

Happy Wednesday!--Thanks for reading!