It Made Me Happy

I've been watching too much What's in the Bible...With Buck Denver lately. Someone donated a pile of them to the church library, and I wanted to see if they should be in the library. They're not going in, since I will have parents upset with some of the theology. I've been enjoying them, though. There's a pirate who teaches church history, and Sunday School lady (with her magic flannel graph board) among other characters; what's not to like?

This, though, is my favourite part so far.

About Following Christ

The song says, "I have decided to follow Jesus". "Decided": past tense. Like it was one decision and that's taken care of and now I'm happily following Jesus all the time.

It's not like that. Following Jesus is a series of decisions that we make every day, sometimes the same decisions over and over. Will I watch this television show, or will I read (or even watch, or listen to) something edifying? Will I waste time (sometimes just because I'm feeling lazy), or will I use my time wisely? Will I keep putting myself first, or will I reach out to others who may need me? There are so many decisions every day, and all too often I know I make the wrong choice. I choose to follow the world or my own desires, and not to follow Christ.

Today my heart is heavy. I have a friend in the hospital because of an intentional overdose. I don't know her very well because I didn't take the time to get to know her. She lives close to me, and she suggested a couple times that we get together for coffee. I was always too busy with too many things and too many other people, and always agreed that we need to do that "when things slowed down". You know how it is: things never slow down. I never made the right decision.

Today I am thankful that my friend is on the mend, and that she's waking up, and responding to people. I am praying for her recovery and healing, and I am praying for myself. I am seeking God's forgiveness for the choices I made concerning her (and rejoicing in God's faithfulness and His promises of forgiveness), and praying for the chance to make the right choice and be in her life.

Every day we need to make the choice to follow Christ. Today I remembered that my choice to follow or not follow affect not only my own life, but also the lives of those around me. It's a great responsibility, and only through the power of the Holy Spirit can I keep choosing to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.

An Everlasing Rock

Here is my look at the final phrase.

"Everlasting" means "time out of mind." I love that way of saying "eternity." We cannot comprehend how long "eternity" is with our little, mortal minds.

Finally, "Rock." The King James translates it "strength" which is a good translation as well; however, the word also includes the idea of "refuge."

So....we can trust God and we must trust God, because He is our strength and refuge for an eternity, for "time out of mind."

Trust...forever

To trust: to hie for refuge; to trust, be confident, or sure.
Also translated: be bold, confident,sure, secure.

Forever: duration, in the sense of perpetuity.
Also translated: eternity, perpetually, evermore.

There you go: perpetually go to God for refuge, and be confident and sure in Him.

Perfect Peace

Interesting finding.....it seems that it's the same word in Hebrew used here, translated both "perfect" and "peace."

So here's what I have:

completeness, soundness
safe, well, happy, quiet, tranquility

So....if we are steadfast of mind, we will have complete and sound safety, wellness, and happiness.

"steadfast of mind"

The first challenge was this: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary are based on the KJV, where the wording is different. This means that instead of "steadfast" I needed to look up "stayed" (as in: "whose mind is stayed on you"). Here is what I learned.....

stayed: lean upon; take hold of; rest upon; supported by....also translated sustained and established

mind: form; framing; purpose; framework

So, from the best I can figure, the idea is that we need our entire being to be taking hold of and resting upon God.

We cannot be steadfast sometimes or partly; it needs to be a full commitment for all times.

More on Isaiah

I plan to look a bit more into some of the words in the verses below. Specifically, I want to think about:
steadfast
perfect
peace
trust
forever
everlasting
Rock

I think they are very key words (well, you try reading the verses without them!) and I want to understand them more fully.

If I have time and energy and such, I'll post more thoughts as I study more.

From Isaiah

This is what I was reading today, and the questions that struck me as important as I read it. I'll let you answer them.

Isaiah 26:3-4

The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.

Questions.....

Who is the promise for?
How long do we need to trust?
Why should we trust God?
Finally....why is this important for any of us?

(Hint: The first three are answered in the verses. The last question is for you to think about, but note the assumption in the question.)