Habakkuk 3:17-19

Hello, hello!

   It's a beautiful fall day here in Vermont!  The mountains are painted with brilliant reds, cool yellows and iridescent oranges.  You really should head over for a visit during this ridiculously priced foliage season.  Mhm.

As much as relaxing tree watching can be, Habakkuk 3:17-18 is pretty amazing too.  Straight to the Word we go!


   "I will take joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

     Here's a nice little bit.  Concerning the first sentence: how might you find joy in your Savior this week?  Maybe in His creation, in His people... I challenge you to make a way in the next few days.   Why not say with the Psalmist that my cup overflows when God is taking such good care of you?  Life might be hard at this moment, for a million different reasons, but God is shaping you to do hard things - to be able to walk on the high, rocky and maybe even dangerous places. 
    

     Now, if any of you out there have been paying more attention than I am, you might realize that I have only laid before us the last part of the text!  The nerve I must have!  I'll guess I'll supply you with the context too, if you're really begging...

   

  ^"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord;"

     BAM.  If you have nothing to eat, nothing to earn money from and no promising future, will you still rejoice in the Lord?  Okay, that wasn't fair.   I can easily say that I wouldn't.  Much too easily.  We should yearn to become so dependent on the Lord that we need nothing else except Him in our situations.  No one else to cause us to rejoice.  He is the only one in who we can safely place all our trust.   There is no one else who is a constant source of all things good.  What response can we give to our Father except rejoicing?  

   October is a time where we're getting discouraged, grades might be falling or those around us get grouchy.  We should still be rejoicing in the source of our hope and our salvation.  When you focus on the LORD, He will carry you through dark valleys.  I'm not saying you should do this so that you're a good person.  I'm reminding myself and you that Jesus Christ makes our souls sing and in Him is all the fulfillment we will ever need. 
  
     I humbly thank you for taking time out of your busy day and heading over to my little neck of the blogosphere.  I hope these verses lead you to prayer, because there's no better outcome. 

Love,
Sarah

1 Peter 2:11-12

Hello y'all!

If you clicked on a link for this post... yup, I wasn't awake when I put on socks this morning. They're purple in case any of you were wondering. 

Since you weren't, now for a subject that hopefully makes sense. 

I know for a fact that you have heard, replayed and sang some awesome songs that say something along these lines. "I am a stranger here, heaven is my home"(Hymn). "All I know is I'm not home yet. Take this world and give me Jesus"(Building 429). "I am a stranger.   I won't be home 'til I'm with You" (Anthem Lights). I love these songs. These are fantastic moral boosters.  But where are these people getting this idea?


Well, here's your answer! 1 Peter 2:11-12: "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

Let's look at "as foreigners and exiles" first.  That's more of an unpleasant spin on strangers.  A bit of a surprise, aye?  Seems like our culture has watered down this passage but the general idea is still there.  We're changed.  We're not of this world any longer, we're children of God.  What's forgotten is there's the war of the being waged Right Now against your very soul!  

Since we added more information into the equation, our response should be changed.  In our lovely songs up here, the main reaction seems to be waiting vigilantly for Jesus Christ to return.  Can I get an amen?  "Heaven and earth will pass away... but concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angles of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father only." (Matthew 24:35a-36)  This still seems beside the point of 1 Peter 2:11.  We aren't called to sit around waiting, twiddling our thumbs, ect.  Remember, we're called the fight in midst the war!  In the beginning verse 12, we're called to live good lives when it seems impossible - in the midst of a sinful community, culture and world.  

Most days I really don't feel like fighting for righteousness.  In fact, I don't right now.  At all.  Do you?

Once again, its not about us and our feelings.  Sounds harsh, I know.  We just get wrapped up in ourselves so often.  Instead, let's focus our eyes back on God.  He says we're in exile.  So He tells us that our response should be to live holy lives.  To what purpose?  "They (unbelievers) may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."  The aim of good deeds are for the GLORY of GOD.  They're not so we can get applauded for opening doors.  Sinful little human beings trying to do nice things doesn't equal the GLORY of GOD.  But in the bigger picture, the equation can add up.  We're changed.  But we're not only foreigners, we're children of God.  We can now work for the glory of God.  All I can do is sit in wonder in awe at our God.  My wish is that this awe will inspire you.  

To head into that classroom as I am doing any second now.   What you do and what you don't do matters.  Maybe how you treat your mom and siblings in Walmart makes a difference.  (Because we all know that Walmart is a scary place.)

For readers here in Vermont, enjoy the drizzling day!  And everyone else, enjoy whatever weather you're experiencing.  That's one reason I love VP and the different places that we live, as silly as it is. 

Thank you for heading on this journey with me!!

Love,
Sarah

Colossians 3:23-24

Hello again.

First of all, all the melted cheese in my tortilla and cheese just fell out.

Down to business.  I know this is rather soon to be putting up another post, but I thought it would be good to give you a taste of what you're in for.

A darling friend (you know who you are;) included a verse in a card she just sent me.  Yes, I said card as in paper that you write on and send through the mail with a ridiculously priced stamp.

In this card, I found Colossians 3:23 and I'll supply you with verse 24 too.  "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."  

Say we start with our premise that  our lives really aren't for ourselves.  You might reply, "YES" with great exuberance.  Or you might be thinking (like me), "I know that my life is the Lord's although I act like I never remember it... "  Those who answered "YES" can leave now.   I'm only going to talk to those who have a hard time with their motives.  Wait.. why are you all still hanging around?  


Colossians 3:23-24 is speaking to our very problem!  We might be afraid to act or we might act selfishly because we are living for ourselves.  God wants to fix all of that.  He wants us to live for Him.  "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord."  When we place our heart in His hands, we are guaranteed success.  We will lift our faces up to the Lord and get our hands dirty.  He fills up our hearts with every good thing when we do all things in the hope of pleasing Him.  Our feeble little acts could please the LORD of the universe.

Most of us know the Ten Commandments.  We could listen to our consciences and know right from wrong.  But we don't follow God's law.  And we don't stop doing ugly deeds.  All we can comprehend in the moment is our small selves.  We forget God's grace, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness.... Those things give us true joy!  If we work in light of these things, we receive joy!  Who wants laziness now?  I challenge you to pick up that Algebra homework (as I will do now:) and do it because "it is the Lord Christ you are serving."  Oh yeah, you heard me right.  You can serve because the perfect Savior of the world served by living out the greatest love on a cross.  Being a student is the work your Heavenly Father has placed in your hands right now. 

Please read Colossians again.  Did God's words inspire you?  This is the Spirit speaking to you.  

Don't let those October blues get you down.  Jesus Christ is what it's all about.

Love,
Sarah

Let's Try This Again

Hi!

      I thought a smooth and unexpected "hi" would be the best way to begin.  This post marks the start of a second beginning in the land of blogging, my last being two years ago (and I failed miserably, for the record).
     Let's start by clarifying one thing: the reason for the name of this little work in progress.  You may look up at the top and refresh your memory if you really have to.  All better?  Okay, the explanation for the awkward phrasing is because of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.  "You are not your own; you were bought at a price."You see what I did there?  Flipped the verse around and made it personal.  My desire is that whenever you might happen to visit here, you would say to yourself, "I'm not for me."  Read the name out loud if that resonates with you.  I'll do my best to remind me and you in every subject that it's all about HIM.
    I'm going to go about this by simply having a little conversation with you.  Maybe with some coffee or tea, but defnitely a verse or two.  There won't be a special order that the verses will be coming from - I'm terribly sorry.  I'm just going to share some thoughts about a verse that has stuck out to me and sparked some faith. 
   Also, I'd like to know what you think about posts in the future, if it wouldn't be too much trouble.  Thank you for starting on this escapade with me! 

Love,
Sarah