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Showing posts from August, 2018

IBS 74 - Ecclesiastes 5:4

Ecclesiastes 5:4 “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools: fulfill your vow.” How often and how easy it is for me to say to God that I’ll do something. And then, as time goes on, I never actually do it. I second guess it, doubt myself, question God if that is actually what he wanted me to do, and so on. I put up so many excuses so that I don’t have to follow through with what I said I would. When God tells me to do something or go somewhere, I try to put it off. I tell him ok, and then doubt. “What if that’s really not God’s plan for my life. What if I just made that up? But, my plans are so much better.” How sad is that? As if my plans for my life could be better then God’s plans for my life.  In Proverbs 19:21 it says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” I always take my plans to God and say ok Lord, this is what I want for my life. But that is not his purpose. His purpose for my

IBS 73 - Ecclesiastes 6:2

Ecclesiastes 6:2 “God gives some people wealth, possessions, and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.” It’s so easy to be jealous of people of the world. To look at their wealth, their possessions, and see that they have all their hearts desires. It’s so easy for me to look at that and then get frustrated because I don’t have any of that. Sometimes I’ll wonder why God gave them their desires and not give me my desires. Whenever I think that way, I’m not thinking rationally. The worldly people, who have all their desires, can’t truly enjoy their wealth. God hasn’t given them the ability too. That’s why they keep searching for more wealth, more lovers, and that’s when they get into bad things like drugs and alcohol. Their ending is not an ending I’d ever want.   As I’ve grown this year, I’ve realized that I don’t want what my flesh wan

IBS 72 - Psalm 66:8-12

Psalm 66:8-12 “Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”  To begin with, the psalmist that wrote this started this new stanza by praising God. Most of the Psalms that I’ve read so far begin with praise to God. This has shown me how important it is to bring praise to God. It is necessary for the soul to praise it’s creator. It brings healing and joy. Praising God is such an important thing. Every day, even before I get out of bed I try to remember to praise God. There is so much to praise Him about first thing in the morning. Like, “God thank you that I’m alive, that I didn’t get stung by a scorpion, that there are now snakes in my home. I will rejoice in your name for your p

IBS 71 - Ezra 3:3a; 6:22b

Ezra 3:3; 5:5a; 6:22b “Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord.” “But they eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews…” “The Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.” Why is it so easy to be more afraid of people than God? To obey the things people ask than what God asks. It should be the other way around. Shouldn’t I fear God more than man? I mean, after all He is the one who created me, this earth, and everything in it and outside of it. He is all powerful, all knowing, all present, all wonderful. He shows me that He is more reliable, faithful, and true than mere human beings. He is trustworthy, He brings rest to the weary, He restores strength to the weak, and He loves me more then anyone on earth could ever love me. Yet, at times I become more afraid of