Thoughts On A Tuesday

Okay I’m going to try and get out all that I wanted to yesterday.  I’m so not good at this, but here’s the (very long 🤣) gist.  Yesterday in my quiet time I was looking up verses about the Holy Spirit (prompted by a message I heard at church a few weeks ago) after reading through some Holy Spirit verses I decided to look up Holy Spirit songs (because I love music) the first song that came up was the one I shared yesterday (and I loved it so much, definitely my kind of music, which is why I love God so much because He knows me so well and knew exactly what would speak to my soul).  So when I saw who the artist was, I realized I had already downloaded some other music by him earlier in the year, so I decided to look him up and see what he was all about.  This led me to his website, theamencollective.com where he has posts about his songs and what they speak to his heart.  As I read the first one, again the Holy Spirit spoke straight to heart, regarding what I had just been praying in my quiet time!  I love how He does that!! The Father used this artist, who I have never met, who lives far from me, to speak love and leading to my heart so clearly!  It’s overwhelming really, how sweet God loves!  So I share all that to say, seek God and you will find him and you will find the sweetest, kindest love you have ever known 🤍 and go check out @mrstephenbradley as he is seeking God and sharing God’s faithfulness and search out others (as the Spirit leads you) who are following Christ and let your heart be encouraged!  This world is a tricky place, with so many ups and really far downs, but there is a hope, I promise, and his name is Jesus and He really, really loves us!!

Check Out Song Here!

https://youtu.be/N1Gm4nbgx5g?si=xUrO6DoILm215iDn

 

Thoughts On A Tuesday

So, yesterday I finally got to see Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret?  I have been so excited since I heard it was coming because I loved the book so much when I read it back in the 1970’s.  I remembered parts, but somehow had forgotten one of the main parts, her religious confusion.  When I saw the movie with some friends yesterday I actually asked, “Was this part in the book?”  I probably need to do a little more research, and I will after I write out these thoughts, but for now I just wanted to share where my thought went with the movie.  I am not in any way saying this is where the movie went or where the writer Judy Blume intended for the movie or book to go because I actually have no idea what her beliefs are.  This is just my own thinking things through and writing out my thoughts of what I know to be true for me.

Throughout the movie, and I guess the book too (although I have got to go back now and reread it because like I said I just can’t remember 😆), Margaret is working out her thoughts on religion as she’s growing into her teen years.  The story is so perfectly written and will take most of us right back to our childhoods.  I really did love the story.  Anyway, throughout the story Margaret is talking things out with God.  Along the way she meets a teacher who encourages her to research her religious beliefs, or lack there of, and this begins her checking out the various ways people seek God.  She soon learns that the process of getting to God and how people believe is the best way can really lead to a lot of conflict, and oh how true that is!!  If I am honest I must admit I still get tripped up on all the different religions myself.  I often wonder how my beliefs work out with those of others I see around the world.  

But, here’s the thing I know and here is the point I just feel like I want to share today. There is a place in the movie where Margaret decides to give up on trying to figure it out and isn’t sure there is a God at all, but by the end of the movie she is talking to him again. Not only that, but she thanks him.  Since I couldn’t remember the whole book (only remembered my love for it), I was so anxious to see where the movie would take us. Like I said, I have no idea where the author meant for it to go, but in my mind I was just so glad to see Margaret still talking to God.  Because here’s the thing, my beliefs in the Word of God tell me that when we seek him we find him.  In believing that, my heart was so happy to know that this fictional character was still seeking, so she would surely find truth.  

I feel like I have just rambled out a bunch of thoughts ( and there are always so many in my brain), but I hope you catch this message.  There really is a God, He is real and good and true and He is there and listening and He loves us!  His Word says in Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart.  I know this to be true, I have found Him and He is my very best friend.  My hope in writing all these thoughts out, is that you too would seek Him and find Him ♥️

*Again let me say, these are my very own thoughts and I am in no way trying to speak for the author Judy Blume or the creator of the movie.  I simply speak as one who loved the story.

*Let me also add, that I am fully aware that Judy Blume has written books (about sexuality and teenage sex) that have created much controversy.  I am in no way speaking to or about those controversies in my writing of this post. 

Get In The Word

Hey guys, it has definitely been a minute since I shared anything here!  Life got really crazy for my family and me in November, December, even into January, but it seems like maybe we are  swinging back into rhythm and I am so thankful.

Since I had a few minutes this morning I thought I would hop back in and share my heart a little.  So if you follow me at all you know I started a new plan for reading the Bible last year.  I decided I was going to go a book at a time and let the Father lead me through at a slower pace.  The way I have done this is to pick a book, then go through and either pray the Word or take notes.  It has been my favorite way to go through the Bible, but it has definitely been slow.  You will not get through the Bible in a year on this plan 😂

Here is how it looked for me in 2022

January Lamentations

February Romans

Mar/May Psalms, Philemon

June Hebrews 

July Hosea & Ezra

August         Mark, Acts

Sept/Oct Genesis

November Ephesians & Joel

December Luke

I tried to go back and forth between the Old & New.

I ended the year with Luke, which is one of my very favorite books of the Bible.  So many of my favorite stories are in Luke.  Maybe I can share my favorites later, but today I just want to share something that I feel like the Lord showed me fresh this time in reading through Luke.  It may seem so simple and not a big deal to you, especially if you are a super scholar, but I wanted to share because I love the way God loves us all so personally and speaks straight to our hearts in every season.  I have read these verses many times and to be honest they always kind of bothered me a little.  Let me give you the verses and then I’ll explain what I mean.

“The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’ “After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’ “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’ “The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’ “‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’ “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’ “‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ “Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ “‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’ “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.”

Luke 19:11-27 NLT

Okay so when I just reread these verses again I almost didn’t share because they seem pretty harsh right??  Although the harshness is not really even what bothered me as I read these verses, for me I think I was just reading them so literally that I just wanted to skip over, because I have never really been a risk taker, at all.  I am a play it safe girl.  I always have been and more than likely I always will be.  So when I read these verses, and took them so literally, I always thought, well I’m out because I probably would have buried my money too 😂

But here’s the thing about God’s Word, it is ALIVE!  In Hebrews 4:12 it says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

So while many of you probably got these verses in Luke years ago, my eyes were just now really opened to them.  This time when I read these verses in Luke, the word KINGDOM jumped off the page to me.  When it did, it opened my eyes to see these verses in a new way.  The kingdom is what I have been given and entrusted with and the kingdom is where I need to invest.  God has been speaking to my heart for years the importance of investing into the next generation, but when I read these verses, it was like a wake up call to really get in gear!  He has blessed me with a family of faith filled believers who have poured into me over the years and I want nothing more than to pass that blessing on to my children and their friends and to my friends and their children.  So that is what I am trying to do today, with this post I hope to encourage you to get in God’s Word.  I promise you there is a God, the God of the Bible, who loves you with an everlasting love.  He is LOVE and when you get to know Him you will know a love like you never have before!  When you seek him, you will find him and when you find him you will love him.  You simply cannot know him without loving him and being loved by him.

I don’t know a lot, but I do know His love and I promise you can know it too!  If you want to study the Word with me I would love that so much.  Just reach out and we can get started!