These are not just words |
This is the blog of Janna Reid. I am a follower and lover of Jesus. I'm writing a blog to share my thoughts about life, love, Jesus, and whatever else comes up! I hope you read and enjoy! |
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+5&version=NIV
1 Samuel 5:1-6
“ After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
6 The LORD’s hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. ”
When the Philistines placed the presence of the most high God in place where He didn’t belong, alongside their false god, Dagon, the god had to submit and the people were afflicted.
When we receive the presence of the Most High God into our lives, but we have other idols in our hearts, as well, we will face a problem. God belongs at the supreme place in our lives. That is the only place He is qualified to be. If we put Him beside our other idols, if we say, “God, You’re important and all, but this other thing is just as important as you”…then:
1. The idols in your life have no choice but to be less than God
2. Your life will be afflicted
You may be thinking the same thing that the Philistines did after they had enough of the afflictions…
1 Samuel 6:1-2
“When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, ‘What shall we do with the ark of the LORD ? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.’”
I have wondered this same thing: How can I put God back in His rightful place?
If this post has sparked something inside of you and you want to learn more about idols and how to spot and get rid of them in your life, I suggest you read Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods. I just finished it recently, and it literally changed my life!
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts/comments on this topic because I do not even begin to pretend that I’ve got this one figured out!
Thanks for your time :)
This post is for those of you who may be experiencing stress about your life, your situation, your future, or all of the above. Just a bit of encouragement that the Lord laid on my heart. He has come through so much for me recently that I would be wasting my life if I did not share what He has shown to me. He never ceases to amaze me with how alive He is in my life! I hope and pray that you experience Him daily, and I hope this post will help you to do so today…
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28
Believers experiencing stress about what they are going through just does not spiritually make sense. If we put our trust in Him, then it’s all going to work out. It’s not up to me or you to figure it out because God has already done that!
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” Matthew 6:33
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6
If you’re needing some direction in your life, look to the Lord. Below is a prayer to give it to Him…
Lord, Your thoughts are higher than mine. I confess my sin of trying to control my life instead of surrendering to Your will. Forgive me for my independence. My success depends on You alone. Thank-You for Your forgiveness and your favor. I know that You have good things planned for me and that You want to reveal those things to me through Your spirit. I open my heart and mind to receive Your love and wisdom. I’m seeking You first in all things, Lord. Thank-You for leading me. Your faithfulness and goodness never run out, Jesus.
If you prayed that, before you say amen, continue to confess and believe for the specifics of your situation. Allow the Lord to open your eyes to what He is doing and what He wants to do in your situation.
So I haven’t posted anything in the past week, so I apologize in advance for the length of this blog. I have a lot to say.
Well, one of the reasons I haven’t blogged in the past week is because I have really just been struggling emotionally this week. I have just been in a valley emotionally. Nothing traumatic happened. I just came into a small storm. I thought of this post before I started going through this storm, but because of what I have gone through this week, I have a fresh perspective on this concept. The Bible gives us such insight, so I want to look at what Jesus did when He was in the midst of a storm…
Matthew 8:23-27
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+8&version=NIV
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
The first thing I want to point out about a storm in life is that it comes “without warning”. Things usually come at you when you least expect it, and they just start to shake your life all up. I really let this storm get the better of me this past week. The Lord even revealed these things to me before the storm hit, but I am so hard-headed sometimes! Times like that show me how heavily I still rely on myself rather than being completely dependent on Jesus. I really wish I would have listened to the Holy Spirit and followed Jesus’ example. I’m going to quit sulking now so that we can move on and learn from what Jesus did!
Some things I should have done that these verses exemplify:
1. Don’t play the victim
It has been easy for me this week to fall into victim mode in saying things like, “Man, I really don’t know what’s going on…I don’t know what’s happening to me” or “Why is this happening to me?” We, like Jesus, have authority to change our circumstances because of the power given to us through the Holy Spirit. We never just have to lie down and take it. We can stand up, face the storm, and say, “Peace. Be still!”
2. Don’t speak death
By this I mean that it doesn’t help your situation any to talk hopelessly or to get critical and negative about your situation like I do sometimes. The disciples got this way when they were all like, “We’re gonna drown!” Instead, encourage yourself by praising God for all that He has done in your life. If you do this, you will remind yourself that God has never let you drown in the past when you relied on Him.
3. Know that God is the one who is going to get you out
The disciples did one thing right: They looked to Jesus to save them. They knew that Jesus had the power to get them out of that storm.
4. Have faith.
Faith is something that is hard to hold onto when you’re in the middle of your storm. All that you can see are the waves of doubt, discouragement, financial need, or whatever you’re facing…without faith, you will easily be overwhelmed by your circumstances.
If we have faith, we can have peace in the midst of the storms of this life because of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, giving us reassurance that nothing will ever overtake us completely. Jesus was so at peace in the midst of the terrible storm surrounding Him, that He did not even wake up from His nap. I want to have that kind of faith when I’m facing a storm in this life.
Jesus had faith and knew without a doubt that he had power over the circumstances that were surrounding and seeming to overtake him. The same spirit that Jesus had is in us as believers!
5. Don’t be afraid
The last thing that Jesus said to His disciples was, “Why are you so afraid?” If in the midst of our storms, we can stop for just a moment and ask ourselves that question, I think that we will face our turning point in that moment. If you can answer that question, “What am I really afraid of in this situation?”, and sincerely answer it, then I believe the Lord will help you find the root of what’s going on in your life.
Another encouragement that I want to offer for those of you finding yourself in a storm is this verse: 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
If you are a believer, then this verse applies to you. Whenever you face a storm, you can do exactly what Jesus did because His spirit lives within you. Your flesh will want to be afraid, but the spirit you have is not a spirit that lives in fear. I encourage you when fear rises up inside of you, stand up to it and say, “Peace, be still, for God has given me a spirit of power and love and self-control”.
So next time I’m facing a storm, I pray that I will take my own advice and listen to the words of the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Lord will help me to not see myself as a victim but as someone who is more than a conqueror through Him who loves me (Rom. 8:37). I also pray that I will speak life to my situation because the tongue has the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21 & James 3:3-12). I pray that I will look to Jesus and have faith that because of Him, the storm will not overwhelm me. And lastly, I pray that the Holy Spirit would remind me of the spirit I have living inside of me: a spirit of power, not a spirit of fear.
I hope that you were able to gain something from going through this life-lesson with me. Thanks for your time, and I would love to hear your thoughts! :)
Springtime is a time for love. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and it’s just a beautiful time!
Everything comes to life in the Spring!
While thinking about Spring, I was thinking about how everyone gets all twitterpated (Bambi reference) during this time, looking for that special someone.
This caused me to think about the one who first-loved all of us, and I just want to talk about that for a bit.
I love these verses, and I believe that this is what God would say to me/you this Spring…
Song of Solomon 2:10 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Song%20of%20Solomon+2&version=NLT
“Rise up, my darling!
Come away with me, my fair one!
11 Look, the winter is past,
and the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers are springing up,
the season of singing birds has come,
and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.
13 The fig trees are forming young fruit,
and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.
Rise up, my darling!
Come away with me, my fair one!”
One thing that I like about Spring is that it is refreshing. It is refreshing to be able to walk outside in shorts and flip-flops and not be freezing! It is refreshing to feel the warm sun and a breeze at the same time. That’s what I like about these verses, as well. They are refreshing. It is just refreshing to think about the way Jesus loves us. It is refreshing that He calls us to Himself despite where we’ve been. He comes to tell us that those things are past (the winter is over), and He is here to take us away! I just love that.
The Lord wants to draw you out of the spiritual winter that you have been experiencing. He wants to warm your heart and awaken your life to growth. Return to your first love. He is calling you! He wants to sweep you away from the pain of your past, the difficulty and confusion of your current circumstances, or the fears you are facing about your future. He’s asking you to rise up and go with Him! What will your response be?
I know my response this Spring is to say yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, overwhelm me with your love. Yes, Lord, I will love you back! Yes, Lord, I will come with You!
I pray that as you have read this post, you have heard God calling your name. I pray that the Lord has stirred in your heart a yearning to rise up and let Him love on you. Let your love with the King blossom this Spring.
Please let me know if I can pray for you further, and please comment your thoughts!
Well, here it is! My first blog…
I have been contemplating writing a blog for a while, and I have really been back and forth in my mind about doing this. Some reasons why I have hesitated are…
This last reason is the main thing that caused me to hesitate and is still causing me to doubt doing this. I wondered if I would have anything original to say or not.
Well, here are some of the reasons that I have chosen to go ahead and start this blog…
I just want you to know that my hope and my prayer is that as I write, the things that I say here will be more than just words. I have no intention of wasting my or your time in writing this blog. I’m not saying that all of my posts will be deep or philosophical, but I am saying that they will be thought-out.
So…I hope you guys follow, read, enjoy, and comment often!
