A Devotional by Margot Cioccio
Well I missed posting on Friday. I had a house full of company and never got a chance to sit down to compose my thoughts or to write anything. I suppose none of you were too terribly put out because I didn't get any up-set comments or e-mails.
Welcome to August, in my house it is a time when routine does not really exist. Routines start in September. For now we are enjoying the summer. Even with this blog some days I write in the morning and some days later in the day or even just before I go to bed. It is all over the map. Anyway I'm sure you will manage if I happen to miss a day here and there. I wrote everyday Monday thru Friday for two year. I think I have established a pretty strong habit of writing. I also think there is plenty here for you to read if I miss a day. So I will probably be a bit more relaxed about posting in this third year, especially with going to school and having a lot of studying to do.
Here's todays verse.
When Your words are unveiled, light shines forth; they bring understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:130 VOICE
Here is something that I have noticed through the years. I hear people complain how they can't understand the bible. It is written for those who have decided to follow the Lord. Jesus spoke in parables even when he walked on this earth. He realized that until we really choose to seek Him and know Him we are not really ready for what He has to say. He explained things to his disciples.
The disciples wanted to know why Jesus told stories. I like how Matthew 13 is worded in the Message. 10 The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?”
11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.
16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
The good new is that if you are a follower of Jesus he sent the Holy Spirit to help you. If you are struggling to understand you might want to stop and pray and ask that the Holy Spirit would help you to understand.
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Here is a good prayer to pray from the Psalms. When we pray in line with the Word of God we can be assured that we are praying in accordance with Gods will and that He will answer our prayers.
Prayer:
Psalm 25:5
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Here is something that I have noticed through the years. I hear people complain how they can't understand the bible. It is written for those who have decided to follow the Lord. Jesus spoke in parables even when he walked on this earth. He realized that until we really choose to seek Him and know Him we are not really ready for what He has to say. He explained things to his disciples.
The disciples wanted to know why Jesus told stories. I like how Matthew 13 is worded in the Message. 10 The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?”
11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.
16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
The good new is that if you are a follower of Jesus he sent the Holy Spirit to help you. If you are struggling to understand you might want to stop and pray and ask that the Holy Spirit would help you to understand.
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Here is a good prayer to pray from the Psalms. When we pray in line with the Word of God we can be assured that we are praying in accordance with Gods will and that He will answer our prayers.
Prayer:
Psalm 25:5
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
No comments:
Post a Comment