Friday SHINE
Happy Fun Friday!
Are you keeping up with the reading in Leviticus? Kind of heavy, huh? ?
As I was reading this morning the italicized headings in my Life Application Bible kept standing out to me…The Burnt Offering, The Grain Offering, The Peace Offering, The Sin Offering, The Guilt Offering…and that’s only chapters 1-5. I am so thankful to be living in 2013 because I am not sure my life would have consisted of much more than a bloody, gore-filled slaughter house back then!
As soon as I finished my SHINE reading, I opened the book that my Bible Study is reading right now (Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow…Kelly mentioned it on Shine this week, too). This week’s reading focused on Philippians 4:6-7, which says:” 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
What a stark contrast from the book of Leviticus. My mind is overcome with gratitude and praise when I think about this…everything changed because one man – the holy son of God – walked on this earth! We have access to the one true God through prayer and petition (in the absence of a sacrificial animal!!) all because of HIM.
The author of our study went on to describe a two-step process to contentment and peace. First, there is our part, from verse 6 (6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God).
The second is God’s part, which Paul writes about in verse 7 (7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus). Have you ever thought about it that way? When we have a concern or problem in our life and we intentionally take it to God, His response is that He guards our hearts and minds with peace! This leads me to our Friday Challenge…what are your worried or anxious about? Has God allowed something in your life that has you down? Name it and write it down. Next, give it to Him in prayer. Thank Him for taking it and for giving you HIS peace in return. Sweet SHINE sister, depending on your burden you may have to repeat the prayer over and over. But He promises His peace – and it will come.
I have recently joined a Facebook group that does specific exercises each day to push ourselves to work harder. When we’ve completed all of the sets of exercises for the day, we comment “done.” Will you do your spiritual exercise with me today?
Name your burden and purposefully give it to God. Tell him you want HIS peace and thank Him that it is freely given. When you have done this, please post a comment that says “done” right here on SHINE.
We’ll draw a winner from all who participate and send you the new Chris Tomlin cd, “Burning Lights.”
Thanks for journeying with me to contentment!
Love, Melissa
Are you keeping up with the reading in Leviticus? Kind of heavy, huh? ?
As I was reading this morning the italicized headings in my Life Application Bible kept standing out to me…The Burnt Offering, The Grain Offering, The Peace Offering, The Sin Offering, The Guilt Offering…and that’s only chapters 1-5. I am so thankful to be living in 2013 because I am not sure my life would have consisted of much more than a bloody, gore-filled slaughter house back then!
As soon as I finished my SHINE reading, I opened the book that my Bible Study is reading right now (Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow…Kelly mentioned it on Shine this week, too). This week’s reading focused on Philippians 4:6-7, which says:” 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
What a stark contrast from the book of Leviticus. My mind is overcome with gratitude and praise when I think about this…everything changed because one man – the holy son of God – walked on this earth! We have access to the one true God through prayer and petition (in the absence of a sacrificial animal!!) all because of HIM.
The author of our study went on to describe a two-step process to contentment and peace. First, there is our part, from verse 6 (6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God).
The second is God’s part, which Paul writes about in verse 7 (7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus). Have you ever thought about it that way? When we have a concern or problem in our life and we intentionally take it to God, His response is that He guards our hearts and minds with peace! This leads me to our Friday Challenge…what are your worried or anxious about? Has God allowed something in your life that has you down? Name it and write it down. Next, give it to Him in prayer. Thank Him for taking it and for giving you HIS peace in return. Sweet SHINE sister, depending on your burden you may have to repeat the prayer over and over. But He promises His peace – and it will come.
I have recently joined a Facebook group that does specific exercises each day to push ourselves to work harder. When we’ve completed all of the sets of exercises for the day, we comment “done.” Will you do your spiritual exercise with me today?
Name your burden and purposefully give it to God. Tell him you want HIS peace and thank Him that it is freely given. When you have done this, please post a comment that says “done” right here on SHINE.
We’ll draw a winner from all who participate and send you the new Chris Tomlin cd, “Burning Lights.”
Thanks for journeying with me to contentment!
Love, Melissa
