I'm working through the Bible study Loved by God by Liz Curtis Higgs. I did parts of it years ago with the ladies group at our church. It has been good this time because I have been able to take my time and go through it on my own pace, which has been painfully slow. Today I read where Jacob wakes up after dreaming about the ladder going into Heaven. Genesis 28:16-17 reads:
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and
I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven!"
The study went on to talk about the fear of the Lord and how this fear should be manifested in our lives. God is with me, He's with me all the time. Why doesn't my life always reflect that? I'm not a bad person, I don't have things that are overtly evil in my life, but it's all the little things. Like not having enough patience, or a TV show that is inappropriate, or a regimented quiet time with the Lord, or I could go on and on, but I think you know what I mean. Why is not that reverence there all the time? I fall into the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality so much. Every day I need to wake up and say, "Surely the Lord is in the place!" because He is! It's kind of a scary thought to me, but how much richer would life be if, consciously, every day remind myself that God is here.
Sometimes my first thought upon waking up is "this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it". Other days I wake up and think "no, not yet. I'm not ready. I don't wanna." Those kinds of days are like that all day long. When I remember to have my first thoughts rejoicing in the Lord and the day, my days are much much smoother.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
If I could just...we live there don't we. Oh, to live fully aware of His presence every day. I long for it too.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. Thank you again for sharing with us.
Blessings,
Trish
www.ahouseupontherock.com
Great thoughts. I want to go check out the Bible study you mentioned. I'm constantly looking for things like that.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post, because I could relate to it so well. I'm forever making great gains, only to fall back on my laurels and find myself clawing back to the right place again. I know I always feel best when my spiritual house is in order.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely easy to slip at times. I take it as a sign of maturity in my faith that I now spot some of the things that would snag me in my youth. Not that I don't have a long way to go still....
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