You will make known to me the paths of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Ps 16:11 (NASB) Two thoughts are with me this morning. One is from some things I blogged about yesterday, and ties in to this verse. Whether life is mundane or exciting, the joy is not in the circumstances. It's in our Lord Himself. Period. As I go through the day to day life that He has put before me, I must find my joy in Him and find my fulfillment in the fact that I am His child. Everything else in this life is bound up in that, and if I find joy in Him first, I can carry that joy into the day to day mundane, the exciting moments, and the tragedies of my life. The second thought has just been mulling around in my mind this morning, and it really has no specific verse - although I believe all through Scripture there are passages that deal with this. We often take Scripture so lightly. We fluff over it and draw out meaning that we want to emphasize, ignoring the depth of the Word. I am as guilty of it as the next person. And I am convicted. I cannot take God's Word lightly anymore. I take back my earlier statement - I do have a verse. It is 2 Tim 2:15...Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth. As I study for my own growth; as I learn to teach my children; as I prepare to teach my Sunday school class; as I look forward to facilitating a women's Bible study - in all I do, I must be diligent to truly study and accurately handle His Word. I will be held accountable.

Truly Seeking

As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thought. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 1 Chron 28:9 (NASB) A lot of what I've been reading over the past couple of days has pointed to the absolute necessity of a heart commitment to the Lord. God gave the people of Israel certain rules, rituals, and traditions to observe. Those things were created to draw God's people to Himself, but so often they were simply actions with no heart devotion to back them up. One thing that made David a "man after God's own heart" was the realization that the observance of these things was meaningless if his heart wasn't devoted to his God. I've always been one of the "good kids" who tends to obey rules. But, the obedience of my actions is not always a reflection of the attitude of my heart. More and more, my actions must reflect a passionate desire to seek after and serve my Lord! They cannot be empty behaviors that achieve nothing. I am challenged to be passionate to the core of my being - to serve my God with my actions not because I want to be held in esteem by others who walk this earth with me, but because I have set my heart wholly and completely on honoring my Lord.

Not About Me

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Job 38:2 (NASB) This verse slapped me in the face yesterday morning. These are God's first words to Job. Job has been afflicted horribly, not knowing why. Job has been attacked by His friends who claim that he must have done something horrible that he's not confessing while Job himself clings to the belief that he is blameless. And then God speaks and these are the first words out of His mouth! Ouch! A couple of weeks ago we had some financial issues, issues caused by things totally out of our control. We had done everything right, and still this happened. There were several times through the mess when my thoughts were pretty irritable. "We've been tithing and giving faithfully! We're trying to be obedient to You! Why aren't You working this out? We haven't done anything to deserve this! How can we be faithful with our finances when things totally out of our control mess us up like this?" Like Job, I asserted the fact that I'd been obedient, and I wanted to know why these things were happening anyway. God is reminding me that it's about so much more than what I know. He revealed to us the whole picture of Job's ordeal, but He never revealed it to Job. In the same way, He doesn't reveal to us why He allows certain things to happen in our lives. He just uses them to grow our trust in Him and to give us a chance to be faithful through those events. I am challenged to see growth in myself through every new trial He brings my way. After all, it's not at all about me - it's all about His glory. And that's the goal.