here she be, Isfeld Discussion Group. notes from today...
not from Isfeld? not to worry! you can read it too :P
[psssst!] [insert community interpretive art game here] [...or just ask what it was all about] :)
Some buzz phrases I've been using a lot lately: Attitude and perspective shape the day. Make the most of every op. God redeems junk.
Questions I've been pondering....
• If I were on my deathbed tomorrow, would I be able to say I've lived well?
• If I were to die today, would my Father God be pleased with me - in the way I've lived my life? In the choices I've made? Would He say, "Good job, Kat!"?
97: Random Thoughts... by Justin Lookadoo, story #37 Duck!
[super book! i recommend this one.]
• Anyone out there relate? Have a similar story?
• Sometimes stuff happens and we don't know why. Sometimes we haven't even made a bad choice and we still get a curve-ball... and things derail.
• How does that affect how you live 5 mins later? For the rest of the day? Does that first day affect you a week or a month down the road?
Philippians 3:13-14... ESV 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5... NIV 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
[The NKJV says it this way: 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.]
What does it mean to "redeem" something?
[John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible: Ephesians 5:16
With all possible care redeeming the time - Saving all you can for the best purposes; buying every possible moment out of the hands of sin and Satan; out of the hands of sloth, ease, pleasure, worldly business; the more diligently, because the present are evil days, days of the grossest ignorance, immorality, and profaneness.]
Colossians 3:23... NKJV And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.
Have you ever seen junk [experiences, mistakes, or plain old stuff gone wrong] redeemed in your life?
Romans 5... ESV 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 8:28... NKJV And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Okay, so I still haven't got it... I haven't figured it all out, but here's what I wrote in my prayer journal the other day: "God... change my little world to big." In other words, open my eyes to see things YOUR way, God. Sometimes that's what we need - just to admit before God that we haven't got it all together. That we need His perspective on stuff.
By the way... a couple days later, I had this amazing day. Not because of anything special or spectacular, just because at the end of the day, I looked back and saw a few times where God made good things. (Seriously, they were simple things... like the rain. Rain is good!!) God heard my prayer and helped me change the attitude of my mind... He changed my little world to big. Make sense?
Are there things you need to trust God to redeem right now? Is there anything you can do to "redeem" today... [this day]?
1 Samuel 12:24... NIV But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
side.note. Be encouraged! Sometimes stuff doesn't turn out... at least, not how we want it to. But God is constantly doing good stuff! He can use those tough things that derail to make us more like Him... conformed to His image. [Romans 8... NKJV 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?]
not from Isfeld? not to worry! you can read it too :P
[psssst!] [insert community interpretive art game here] [...or just ask what it was all about] :)
Some buzz phrases I've been using a lot lately: Attitude and perspective shape the day. Make the most of every op. God redeems junk.
Questions I've been pondering....
• If I were on my deathbed tomorrow, would I be able to say I've lived well?
• If I were to die today, would my Father God be pleased with me - in the way I've lived my life? In the choices I've made? Would He say, "Good job, Kat!"?
97: Random Thoughts... by Justin Lookadoo, story #37 Duck!
[super book! i recommend this one.]
• Anyone out there relate? Have a similar story?
• Sometimes stuff happens and we don't know why. Sometimes we haven't even made a bad choice and we still get a curve-ball... and things derail.
• How does that affect how you live 5 mins later? For the rest of the day? Does that first day affect you a week or a month down the road?
Philippians 3:13-14... ESV 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5... NIV 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
[The NKJV says it this way: 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.]
What does it mean to "redeem" something?
[John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible: Ephesians 5:16
With all possible care redeeming the time - Saving all you can for the best purposes; buying every possible moment out of the hands of sin and Satan; out of the hands of sloth, ease, pleasure, worldly business; the more diligently, because the present are evil days, days of the grossest ignorance, immorality, and profaneness.]
Colossians 3:23... NKJV And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.
Have you ever seen junk [experiences, mistakes, or plain old stuff gone wrong] redeemed in your life?
Romans 5... ESV 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 8:28... NKJV And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Okay, so I still haven't got it... I haven't figured it all out, but here's what I wrote in my prayer journal the other day: "God... change my little world to big." In other words, open my eyes to see things YOUR way, God. Sometimes that's what we need - just to admit before God that we haven't got it all together. That we need His perspective on stuff.
By the way... a couple days later, I had this amazing day. Not because of anything special or spectacular, just because at the end of the day, I looked back and saw a few times where God made good things. (Seriously, they were simple things... like the rain. Rain is good!!) God heard my prayer and helped me change the attitude of my mind... He changed my little world to big. Make sense?
Are there things you need to trust God to redeem right now? Is there anything you can do to "redeem" today... [this day]?
1 Samuel 12:24... NIV But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
side.note. Be encouraged! Sometimes stuff doesn't turn out... at least, not how we want it to. But God is constantly doing good stuff! He can use those tough things that derail to make us more like Him... conformed to His image. [Romans 8... NKJV 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?]
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