This morning, like quite a few weekend mornings lately, found me awakened around 4:30, with God beckoning....
What if the church for Heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate
Took a stand upon God's promise
And stormed Hell's rusty gates?
What if His people prayed
and those who bare His name
would only seek His face
And turn from their own ways?
....
What if the life that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth?
What if the family turned to Jesus
Stopped asking Oprah what to do?
Casting Crown's "What if His People Prayed" lyrics above running through my head like a broken record - OK, Lord, I get it. I'm up. I'm coming. I really, really want to sleep. But I'm turning away from what I want.
I don't normally share my quiet time versus here... but today I will be sharing some. I've been reading through the Bible for the past couple of weeks, and I'm in Deuteronomy right now. Keep in mind, I love to read - my quiet time normally finds me holed up some place reading chapters at a time. Some days I don't make the time, but I'm trying to be very diligent about it - I mean, God *always* makes time for me, right? OK, so... I asked God this morning to help me find some "nuggets" (yes, I said nuggets ) to be able to hold onto.
nugget (noun)
| 1. | a lump of something, as of precious metal. |
| 2. | a lump of native gold. |
| 3. | anything of great value, significance, or the like: nuggets of wisdom. |
After reading - correction: After trying, and failing (strictly due to my weak stomach) to read Leviticus, I was ready for a lump of gold, or precious metal - sure beats slaughtering animals and *gag* spattering their blood on things.
These are some of the nuggets I was provided with this morning. I really feel compelled to share them with you, and I am attributing that to be A God Thing, because I had no intentions of blogging today. :)
5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:5-9
For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us. Deuteronomy 6:25
He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.... Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. Deuteronomy 8:3b & 5
What an amazing, loving Father we have! I don't know about the rest of you, but I am intending to stay on the path He has set before me, to obey His commands, to teach our children (or simply the children in our lives) to love the Lord our God and follow His ways, I intend to rejoice when God disciplines me because He does it out of Love, and I intend to be counted as righteous for obeying the commands He has given me/us.
