tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950435494391507153.post5994050894876277411..comments2024-03-22T19:57:27.771-05:00Comments on Operation Actually Read Bible: Taste and See: Are you an optimist?Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901303060435341815noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950435494391507153.post-62646860660545772242011-04-30T19:42:05.657-05:002011-04-30T19:42:05.657-05:00Annette, I hope you don't think I was implying...Annette, I hope you don't think I was implying that it was *only* stubbornness or willful disobedience that keep getting in the way!!! I didn't mean that at all. I really didn't!!! <br /><br />I think that is where the Spirit comes in. The Bible is a spiritual book. And it takes the Spirit living within you, acting within you, to understand and apply it. And it IS very much a journey!!! And it's not a book that you can read once and say "I'm done. I'm finished. I've learned everything God wants me to know." Because that is SO not the case!!! Every day is a new beginning, a new opportunity to grow. To have your knowledge (and love and grace) expanded. God gives abundantly. And, of course, we can't "get" everything all at once. And I'd be afraid to meet someone who thought that they knew EVERYTHING there was to know. I mean there will always, always, always be room to grow in grace and truth. And sometimes what we think we know--we don't know as well as we think we did! I mean God can correct us and set us straight. And sometimes we know more than we think we know. Sometimes we don't realize how much God has given us. How blessed we really are! <br /><br />I know the Bible is living and active because it tells me something new each time I open it and really read it. Not reading superficially perhaps. But when I come with an open heart and a willing mind. It tells me what I need in that moment. I do believe that is why it is important to read it daily. God gives us what we need in that moment, at that time. He gives us that day's nourishment. <br /><br /> In other words, I agree with what you said. The Christian life is all about the journey, the walk. And it has its ups and downs. There are times where you're overwhelmed with sorrow and nagged by doubt and temptations. There are times you feel lost and alone. And there are times you just don't know how to pray to fix the mess your life has become. The Christian life embodies every emotion imaginable. Which is why Psalms speaks to you no matter where you are!!! <br /><br />And I definitely, definitely did not mean to say that we should be looking at other people and going YOU NEED TO FACE FACTS! (But I don't.) That is the opposite of what I believe!!!Beckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07901303060435341815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950435494391507153.post-26800919491492088062011-04-30T19:23:27.338-05:002011-04-30T19:23:27.338-05:00Becky you wrote an excellent post, I can tell you ...Becky you wrote an excellent post, I can tell you worked hard on it.<br /><br />For me, in my life. And this has happened several times. I can read something from the Bible, and not realize, out of ignorance, and it's as if the porch light has not turned on yet in my little brain, that that verse is speaking to ME. But, later I will read it again, sometimes much later, then the light bulb will turn on and I will have that ah-hah moment. Maybe it was not meant for me to get it just yet, maybe some things had to happen before then. Another words I did not understand it not because I was thinking I don't need that or I don't have that problem, etc. But I was just plain ignorant of it. <br />But, yes sometimes it is because I don't want to face that fact that I needed to read that verse and be convicted and repent. <br /><br />The Christian life is a journey, with lots of hills and mountains, and dry arid places, and occasionally lush green meadows. <br />But, it is when the winds grow strong that the roots grow deep. <br />It is in the hardships and struggles that is when my character and spiritual life deepens and grows.Annettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09693346981997723405noreply@blogger.com