As I was sitting in my room, reading the chapter and thinking about what I wanted to write in my blog post, I was listening to an old Disciple (awesome Christian band) CD and there was a line in a song that went like "Decisions will make you or break you." Thought that was cool and it goes right along with the chapter :)
For those of y'all who haven't read the chapter yet, it talks about making wise choices and asking God for wisdom. When we ask God for wisdom, He will help us to make righteous decisions in all things. All we have to do is ask for his counsel.
Ms. Jeanne's post last week was pretty detailed :) but I am going to just write a few paragraphs on my thoughts :)
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On page 128, Stormi writes about Lot in the Bible (Genesis 13:10-13). Lot was looking for a place to live, and without consulting God, he chose a section of land. He thought it was a fantastic place to live; however, it turned out that he was surrounded by wicked people, and he ended up being captured. "He chose what he thought was best, rather than asking what God knew was best."
John 16:13: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." Only God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit know the truth and can lead us into the truth; only He is wise, and only He knows what is best. When we act according to what we think we know, we are obeying and acting according to the flesh. Because the flesh is only out for worldly gain, our motivation for those actions is always wrong. We may be acting out of selfishness, hate, etc. And as we see in the example of Lot, there will be consequences for making foolish and rash decisions. Decisions will make you or break you.
It gets hard when we want to do things that we clearly realize are wrong in the eyes of God. That's the flesh! That's Satan speaking! But fortunately God is more powerful; it's SOOO important that we ask God for wisdom as well as strength so that we can act in a Godly manner as we resist the temptation to sin.
I love on page 132 where it says "If you make it a habit to always ask God for wisdom, then when you have to make quick decisions with no time to ask anyone anything, you will make a wise one because of the wisdom God has placed in you."
We need to get in this habit now because as we are starting to get older, more often we will be faced with those kind of situations when we need to make a decision.... FAST. I can think of several times when this happened to me, but I didn't think to ask God for wisdom and I ended up making a decision that probably wasn't the best.
The list on page 129, "Ten ways to walk in wisdom," has several things we can do to grow in wisdom; I love number 3: "Bring God into everything you do." Y'all, if we could bring God into everything we do.... oh my gravy, our lives would be SO different. And awesome. Maybe just keep that in mind this week, to bring God into everything you do. Ask His opinion on stuff; talk to him when something goes wrong; praise him for the small things; instead of talking to myself (LOL i do that alllll the time), talk to God! He is always there! Seek His wisdom in everything; don't be afraid to ask for help. Decisions will make you or break you, and I'd rather not break.
Rachel, this was so well done. I love it that you said you were not going to do exactly what I did. That is what is going to make this blog so much fun. Just seeing how each one of you interprets the chapter and reports on it in her own way. You did an outstanding job of posting exactly what we NEED to get out of the chapter....fully relying on Him for each and every decision. I really liked how the author used the analogy of the ocean and how it was all about her perspective, kind of a God's eye view. And then I liked it when she said that even tho she knew what to expect it still took her by surprise and she says "even when you think you know something, you still can't get smug about it" Yeah, that is me sometimes, getting all self righteous and stuff. I am sure it really was not all me who made that decision but the leading of the Lord so I need to give him the credit and not take it all. I agree with Rachel that a part that stuck out to me is taking all our decisions to Him and not just relying on our own wisdom and getting into the habit of it, so it comes easier to ask Him regularly and not just once in a while when we get stuck. I liked on page 130 for the 10 Ways to Walk in Wisdom, number 10 where she says we should seek God's wisdom, not the world's. Don't we all have a tendency to see the world's? It just seems easier and seems to be the right thing when often times it is the complete opposite of what we really should be doing....remember that whole "set apart girl thing" We want to be THAT girl.
ReplyDeleteRachel, cool job on tying in the song and using it at the beginning of your blog and then reminding us again of it at the end. I know Katie and all those "musical girls in our group" will love it that you used lyrics. Nice touch. I like how Stormie says "none of us should be too prideful to ask God for His wisdom and counsel, because he is the only one who knows the truth. Amen, sista. I have to tell myself that ALOT. I have to see HIS face and not look to my own judgment. Isn't it cool how He just keeps asking us to talk to Him?
Steller job, Rachel! I loved how you kept it short and sweet, but it definitely didn't lack on content. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Job Rachel.. absolutely loved how you wrote this. Perfect. I got a lot from your comment also Miss Jeanne. It was a great reminder for me to go to God for EVERYTHING AND IN EVERY MOMENT. Especially during the summer I get off track and dont think about talking to the Lord. I wonder why I feel disconnected at times and its all my fault! He is always ready and available to listen, I just "forget" to talk to Him which should never be the case! Thanks for the reminder..I need to focus on this this week :)
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ReplyDeleteSorry, I removed my comment. Too many typos. :) Another remarkable chapter. :)
ReplyDeleteThe first illustration she used reminded me of a story (surprise surprise) of a man who couldn't understand why God sent Jesus to communicate with us humans. If God was truly powerful, why didn't he just yell the gospel down from heaven? The man was thinking about this when he looked down and noticed some ants. They were looking around for food. The man noticed fallen crumbs in the opposite direction the ants were moving. This distracted him. He began thinking "If only I could shout down at them and tell them to avoid that obstacle, change their direction, and head towards the crumbs! I could stamp my foot to get some to turn, but it wouldn't turn all of them and it would even kill a few. If only I spoke ant, if only I could get down on their level..." That's when he realized that's exactly what God did for us. He sent Jesus to get down on our level to keep up from 'falling off the deep end'. :)
THEN, it starts talking about God's guidance- which is exactly what our sermon was on today at church. Some of the key points from the sermon were that David's DESIRE for divine guidance started everything. David's desire for God's guidance began with God confidence. (Which is finding your courage in God and putting trust in Him.) David's desire for God's guidance led him to seek God's ways. (which is the first on the top ten list of ways to find guidance.) And lastly, David's desire for God's guidance resulted in friendship with God. We are closer to Him, we receive more blessings and wisdom. It's a constructive cycle. :)
love the story about the ants, Katie!
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