I guess I lied when I said we'd go through the whole book of Romans verse by verse... yet another example of our inescapable imperfection!
I just wanted to throw up a quick post tonight. I've been going through a rough time lately (but really, who isn't?) and I wanted to share a passage that God has given to me.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV)
I guess that's two verses... but that's all right.
I won't go very in depth tonight (mostly because I have to get going on my homework), but I want to encourage you to go back and read that again. Now do it again. Now again, but make sure you go slowly. I find that I read the Bible way too quickly... all the time. As a result, I'm not getting anything out of it. Sure, God's peace overwhelms me when I simply glance over the precious words on the pages, but I'm not retaining it. Therefore, my life doesn't reflect it and God's peace is gone the instant my eyes are off that page. I need God's Word in me - in my heart. I'm working on memorizing these verses (I'm not very good at memorizing, but I'm trying.)
I like to take verses one clause at a time. If you don't know what a clause is, ask your local English teacher. (By the way, I'm a total grammar nerd - I love the logic behind it.)
Our first clause is this: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart..." This may seem self-explanatory, but the keyword is trust. I worry about so much! Too much. This causes stress, baggage, and weariness, among many other things, in my life. Things I don't need and that God never wanted/intended for me to have. If I would simply trust that my God has it all under control and let him take the wheel, all of that would be gone. (Matthew 11:28-30 is a fitting passage for this as well.)
Second, we have: "...and lean not on your own understanding..." Let's face it: I think I know it all. I can get through life without help from anyone. I am that rare exception of a teenager that does not, in fact, need my parents. I understand everything, so I can deal with all situations in life. Well, I am dead wrong. I love how it is worded here. Lean. One leans on something for support, depending on that thing to hold him/her up. Just think about what the word "lean" means to you for a bit. I love that word. Every time I lean on my own understanding or my own knowledge, my artificial support system falls to the ground in pieces. And let me tell you, one thing that never fails is that my own support system always fails. I always fail. Lately, that has been my problem. I am a failure. But what am I not doing? Reading the Word of God. I need a support system that can actually hold my weight (and I am pretty heavy spiritually right now.) God's Word never fails. Jesus Christ never fails. He and only He is more than strong enough to hold me up. "Lean not on your own understanding, Kyara."
Next: "...in all your ways, acknowledge Him..." I looked up the definition for acknowledge and found this: "to accept (someone) to be what he/she claims." Now, what did Jesus claim to be? John 14:6 "I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life...." So in whatever I'm doing or whatever I'm going through, I need to accept that Jesus is my Way, my Truth, and my Life. That's a biggy.
Finally, the last clause is this: "...He shall direct your paths." I'm using the New King James Version (which I adore) and by the word "direct" it has a footnote that says "or make straight." God wants to, is able to, and will make my paths straight if I trust Him, lean on Him, and accept Him. My path is all over the place, and it's dark. It would be lovely to have that cleared up.
So maybe that was a bit in depth. I can't help it, though - as I've stated before, there is so much you can get from God's word in just one (or two) verse(s)! It's amazing (and not in a light sense.) Thank you for reading. Please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Trust Him... Lean on Him... Accept Him...
I just wanted to throw up a quick post tonight. I've been going through a rough time lately (but really, who isn't?) and I wanted to share a passage that God has given to me.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV)
I guess that's two verses... but that's all right.
I won't go very in depth tonight (mostly because I have to get going on my homework), but I want to encourage you to go back and read that again. Now do it again. Now again, but make sure you go slowly. I find that I read the Bible way too quickly... all the time. As a result, I'm not getting anything out of it. Sure, God's peace overwhelms me when I simply glance over the precious words on the pages, but I'm not retaining it. Therefore, my life doesn't reflect it and God's peace is gone the instant my eyes are off that page. I need God's Word in me - in my heart. I'm working on memorizing these verses (I'm not very good at memorizing, but I'm trying.)
I like to take verses one clause at a time. If you don't know what a clause is, ask your local English teacher. (By the way, I'm a total grammar nerd - I love the logic behind it.)
Our first clause is this: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart..." This may seem self-explanatory, but the keyword is trust. I worry about so much! Too much. This causes stress, baggage, and weariness, among many other things, in my life. Things I don't need and that God never wanted/intended for me to have. If I would simply trust that my God has it all under control and let him take the wheel, all of that would be gone. (Matthew 11:28-30 is a fitting passage for this as well.)
Second, we have: "...and lean not on your own understanding..." Let's face it: I think I know it all. I can get through life without help from anyone. I am that rare exception of a teenager that does not, in fact, need my parents. I understand everything, so I can deal with all situations in life. Well, I am dead wrong. I love how it is worded here. Lean. One leans on something for support, depending on that thing to hold him/her up. Just think about what the word "lean" means to you for a bit. I love that word. Every time I lean on my own understanding or my own knowledge, my artificial support system falls to the ground in pieces. And let me tell you, one thing that never fails is that my own support system always fails. I always fail. Lately, that has been my problem. I am a failure. But what am I not doing? Reading the Word of God. I need a support system that can actually hold my weight (and I am pretty heavy spiritually right now.) God's Word never fails. Jesus Christ never fails. He and only He is more than strong enough to hold me up. "Lean not on your own understanding, Kyara."
Next: "...in all your ways, acknowledge Him..." I looked up the definition for acknowledge and found this: "to accept (someone) to be what he/she claims." Now, what did Jesus claim to be? John 14:6 "I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life...." So in whatever I'm doing or whatever I'm going through, I need to accept that Jesus is my Way, my Truth, and my Life. That's a biggy.
Finally, the last clause is this: "...He shall direct your paths." I'm using the New King James Version (which I adore) and by the word "direct" it has a footnote that says "or make straight." God wants to, is able to, and will make my paths straight if I trust Him, lean on Him, and accept Him. My path is all over the place, and it's dark. It would be lovely to have that cleared up.
So maybe that was a bit in depth. I can't help it, though - as I've stated before, there is so much you can get from God's word in just one (or two) verse(s)! It's amazing (and not in a light sense.) Thank you for reading. Please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Trust Him... Lean on Him... Accept Him...
