Sunday, January 2, 2011

Previewing 1

So I was playing around on this site and clicked the "stats" button and found out that my little blog has gotten a lot of views. 186 views from the United States, 2 from Croatia, and 1 from Slovenia! That is so cool! Also a site pingywebedition.com has a link to my blog! I don't even know what that is but that is cool! Oh, and I have 2 followers! I really pray that God uses this blog. I am simply someone who loves to read, loves God, and hopes that the insights I gain will be of use to Him.

What happens When Women Walk in Faith is a book written by Lysa TerKeurst. The title is one of the things that grabbed my attention. The other is the author. I attend the same church as Lysa and have heard her speak on occasion. I have always loved that she is a real woman who speaks from her heart and doesn't mind letting us know she is real. The best part is God uses that realness for His glory!

I have already written about the first section of this book: the Leaving Phase. Although I am still writing about chapter 4 which is in this section, Lysa has gone ahead and previewed the next 4 phases: famine, believing, death, and resurrection. Famine gets the most preview with 2 pages about it. So today famine! Just the word makes me want to rethink this whole journey.

"A Famine in the Land" Lysa writes about how Abram went to live in Egypt because a famine was in the land. God told him to leave his home go to this land and he would have it and become the father of many nations. And a famine hits the land so severely that he has to leave it! That doesn't make sense to my brain, but God knows exactly what He is doing.

Lysa writes, "Don't second-guess what God is doing. Rather, look for ways to dig deeper into His Word, His character, and His faithfulness in this time. Growing deep roots isn't easy." If there is a famine we have to search for food, a place to grow food, and place to get sustenance. In a the spiritual famine phase the only true place to get that sustenance sis from God and from His Word.

It makes me think about the parable of the seed. The seeds that didn't grow deep roots all were ruined in the end. I want to grow deep roots. I want to long for God more. I think that longing comes from spending more time with Him, for sitting in His presence, from praying, from listening to others teach from the Word, from discussing God with others, and from reading His Word. I am seeing God open me up to want all of these things more.

Each and ever Sunday for the last month or so I have woken up not feeling well. Twice I chose not to go to church. One time I was truly sick and the other time I felt much better around 11:00. That just so happens to be when church starts. So this morning, Sunday morning, I woke up with a sinus headache. The first thought was "you can't go to church?" Yup, it was "you" not "I". So I smiled, told satan to "shut up" and I got out of bed and got ready for church.

Satan wants nothing more than for us to enter a famine period and not grow deeper in Christ. He would  love for me to not get the nourishment I need, wither, and blow away. I am not sure if God has such a great plan, in people eye's at least, that satan should worry about me. But he seems to so I know that God has something He wants to accomplish through my life.

"God is Faithful in the Famine" Abram goes to Egypt and leaves his promised land. He must have worried, wondered at least. What could God be doing. When the time comes for Abram to leave Egypt he left with much because he had become very rich. It seemed as if he was outside of his dream and God had changed His mind, and he had to physically get up a go to Egypt and he ends up leaving richer than when he went in. If we spend the time with God's Word to get the spiritual replenishing we need then we will walk back to our promised dream richer then when the famine struck! Not monetarily richer, but spiritually richer! That kind of richness I want!

Lysa points out that back in the promised land God tells Abram again of His plan for him. She also points out that this is the first time that Abraham, his name is changed now, proclaims that he believes God's dream for him. That spiritual growth, deepness, that he experiences because of his time of famine resulted in true belief in God and His promises.

I didn't believe the dream God gave me for much of the last 25 years or so. I wanted to tweak it, ignore it, and even forget it. I actually did forget part of it. Only a few years ago did God remind me of key words for His Word to me. Words I once hated, and now I embrace. Recently God revealed even more another part that I had forgotten about. I was another part that I had completely rejected at times. I do not know how God will accomplish it, but I believe it to be true.

I actually look forward to reading about the famine phase! Next time I'll write about the preview of believing, death, and resurrection. they are all short so I'll do them together.

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