Category: Reading The Bible

Writing Season again!

In our garden we have a hot pink Crepe MyrtIe (I had to google to find out what type of tree it was!). It blooms in the height of summer, bringing a huge splash of colour to our garden. I love it, often exclaiming to the children as we drive in the driveway, “Look at the tree, look at the tree, it is so beautiful.”

Of course in the winter it looks very different. Just a trunk and branches. No leaves. No hot pink flowers.

Seasons

God tells us in Ecclesiastes that there are seasons,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV.

In September 2020 I felt that nudge from God that my season for writing this weekly blog had ended - Permanently or temporarily - I didn’t know, but I obediently stopped. A few weeks later in October 2020, we found out that Victoria would have to re-commence chemotherapy treatment for a year. 

Is it time to start again?

Midway through 2022 I wondered, is it time to start again? But I didn’t get a clear “yes” from God so I just waited. And then in Oct 2022 we received the news Victoria was going to need brain surgery, so clearly not the right time to start writing again - there were other priorities!

Maybe now?

Then in May 2023, it seemed as though it may be the right time to write so I put together a plan for the first couple of months of blog posts, planning to start in July. However, that timing wasn’t right either, as some new health challenges appeared for Victoria in June of which she is still contending with.

Or maybe now?

But here we are today, the first Sunday in 2024. My husband has recently started as the Sunday morning announcer at a local Christian radio station. He is up and out of the house early so I have a quiet few hours to myself. Victoria’s health continues to be challenging, but God is giving us each the daily grace we need to do that journey well. So I am sensing that it seems as though my next season of writing is finally here!

Now, where to start?

So where to start? I have read over the blog post plan I wrote last year and it still seems relevant - thank you Jesus for going before me and making a way!

When I reflect on the past three years, particularly with the challenges of Victoria’s health, there are many questions one could ask, but how about this one … “How does one live a life of hope when we are faced with so many unknowns?” That word ‘unknowns’ means different things to each of us. For me, with the unknowns of life, I need something unchanging that I can rely on - a firm foundation.

A firm foundation

A firm foundation - a place that I can go, no matter what is going on in our lives, and it will give me strength and faith to get up the next day and keep moving forward. For me, that firm foundation is God’s word - the Bible. That is the place I go to, reading it daily, fully expecting that God will speak to me through it, giving me His wisdom; reminding me that He loves me and that He will never leave me; encouraging me that He works all things together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose; and reassuring me that because of Jesus Christ we can have eternal life.

The Bible - the word of God

So over the next few weeks, I’m going to write about some of my favourite scriptures and how God has used them in my life. Today I will leave you with this one …

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NIV.

I encourage you today, to find a physical space, perhaps it is sitting under a beautiful blooming tree like our Crepe Myrtle, and take five minutes to be still and meditate on the truth that there is a God in heaven and He loves you. 

PS: Don’t be surprised if tears come as you receive more of His love. 

Needing some help to 'Be Still?'

Here are some beautiful worship songs that have helped me come to that place of 'Being Still' before God:

Be Still - Kari Jobe
Be Still - Live - Hillsong Worship

Looking for more encouragement?

Are you looking for more resources to help you draw closer to God, please check out my other blog posts and podcasts.


Reading The Bible with the Holy Spirit

God has given me a scripture to start today’s post, Proverbs 8:14. But I have no idea what will happen after that, so I am trusting the Holy Spirit will guide me and bring revelation. Let’s see where He takes us.

“You will find true success when you find me,
For I have insight into wise plans that are designed just for you.
I hold in my hands living-understanding, courage, and strength.
They’re all ready and waiting for you.”
Proverbs 8:14 TPT

I read this scripture in The Bible last week. It encouraged and challenged me.

It encouraged me with the thought that God has a wise plan designed just for me. And He has a wise plan designed just for you too.

It challenged me with “You will find true success when you find me” – What is “true success”? And what does it mean to “find God”?

What is ‘true success’?

I don’t have a succinct answer to what is “true success”, but for me, I know that is has something to do with the closeness of my relationship with God. My heart is to keep drawing closer and closer to God.

Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you. But make sure you cleanse your life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting. James 4:8 TPT

Oh look, there are another few challenges …. cleanse your life… keep your heart pure… stop doubting. I need some help with those actions. Thank you Holy Spirit that you are my helper.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 NIV

And thank you God that your grace is sufficient for me every time I get it wrong.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

Going back to Proverbs 8:14, God has a wise plan that is perfectly designed for each of us, and when we are weak and rely on God, we have more of Christ’s power is us. The power that raises the dead to life.

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians

Here is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, asking God to give them wisdom, revelation, and to experience the power of God.

I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.

I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones!

I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming!

And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given him the highest rank above all others. And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!
Ephesians 1:17-23 TPT

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

Reading The Bible with the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus

WOW! When I started writing this post, I had only two things, firstly the scripture from Proverbs 8:14, and secondly a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide in writing this post. And look where we ended up – with a declaration about Jesus and His power ….

And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming! Ephesians 1:21

This is exactly where we need to be – focusing on Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV

So what is the purpose of this post? To encourage you, on occasions, to wander through the scriptures, don’t stop at the first one you read, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in where to go next. Let Him direct your time reading The Bible, and be open to what He wants to reveal to you. Time spent in God’s Word, with an open heart, will always be a blessing to you.

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