I love the Bible because it is true, and I hate it at the same time for the very same reason. It is true because it helps you to see the world as it really is not as we would like it to be. The challenges that the biblical characters faced were often times over the top, like Daniel in the Lion's Den, Abraham and Isaac, Deborah & Barack, or the biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There are so many other stories that I truly love and could go on for days.
Growing up I loved all the biblical stories and even today I can't help looking at the children's adventure bible.* I love thumbing through children's bibles and sitting down and reading them. The children around me love them too. Bible stories have always been my favorite stories. I love the colorful illustrations in the Bible and the over the top dramatic effects with the complete understanding that no matter what you face God is always with you. He is there in the midst. Whether it is on the playground, whether you are surrounded by mean girls at school, or at church, in the cafeteria, or on a college campus, or if you are in the middle of a bitter divorce. Whatever you are going through God is there. He is always there.
He is there in His people and we are indeed God's hands, feet, and His heart. And He is there wherever you see goodness. He is there. It is a difficult job that we face as believers because we see the impossible and we challenge others to rise up and see it too. That takes great faith...Gorilla Faith.* What separates leaders from everyone else is their ability to be faithful to whatever God has called them to and to see and cultivate greatness in others. If you stay faithful no matter the obstacles that you face your life becomes a living sacrifice a testimony unto Him. The difficulty arises when you have a family. Parenthood changes you, marriage changes you, and so does becoming a believer. It makes you want the impossible. And it either breaks you and reveals something miraculous or reveals something else entirely. That is why we need other believers to support, encourage, and inspire us daily in our walk with Christ and extend that graciously and generously with us so we can do it with others. That's why we all need God because without Him it is impossible to please Him.
What I love about the Bible is that for me I can never remember the intricate details, but just the overall feeling or mood of each story and the general outline of each. Which is intriguing about this for me is that I have to go back and read it again and again and again and it never gets old. This reminds me of all the Motion Picture Action films that I adore. I watch them over and over and over again trying to figure out what is going on and it's like one part of my brain goes to sleep and the other part comes alive because honestly I can't really tell you what is truly happening in any of the Marvel movies in great detail nor James Bond films, or Fast & Furious movies but I love them. And I love talking about them and I love talking about the Bible too with the same great passion. I love how life, the Bible, and Hollywood have the ability to bring out the best and the worst in people during difficult times.*
I love people. That capacity to love like that only comes from God. It's a gift. God created us to love. What that looks like in reality from day to day changes because the people we encounter every day changes. I often get angry whenever I hear the story of the Israelites and how they were in the wilderness for 40 years. But in reality in America we have been in the wilderness much longer than that. However, God's grace and His love keeps us in perfect harmony.
I was reminded last year that there were only two nations in the world that were created solely for God and that is Israel and the United States of America. I have spent a lot of time touring the US and I love the land, the country, and I love the people.* Growing up my family didn't do a lot of traveling for obvious reasons. We did take long drives to Eden, New York for church. Over the skyway bridge during intense winter storms...Lord have mercy, in all kinds of weather. We also went to the farm in the country and learned about connecting with God in big and small ways, we learned how to care for a home, and how to laugh and play. I didn't think anything at the time but now looking back I see the hand of God. I see how God was messing with the fabric of time. What He was doing was teaching us all how to love. He was weaving us all together. You see on the outside we looked very different but on the inside because we loved the Lord we were the same. By spending so much time together we became each others family. God weaved us together with His love. His perfect love is what binds us together. Even for me this is a hard concept to grasp and I love collecting people and books like some people collect cars, jewelry, or money. When the good book says to, "don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal." That means investing in people not in things. My brother Andrae told me recently that I shouldn't allow money to be what determines the course of my ministry. That seemed like a great pastor type thing to say. And I wrestle with this because you see we live between different worlds. When we allow money or fancy things to determine our course it prohibits God from doing miracles, but at the same time we live in the natural world where bills keep on rolling in and the stresses of life return and continues on. And just like that we are like the Israelites again with their lack of faith......And God comes again to the rescue..... and has to come into our daily lives and rescue us from ourselves again and again and again. God is our ultimate super hero. He is our Deliverer so trust in Him today. Tell Him what you need and allow Him to work out the kinks. God provides our daily manna. When we focus solely on money it limits God's ability to work miraculously in our lives.
I am reminded of this every time I get into His presence. I love my prayer time with God there is nothing sweeter than being in His presence. He has all the answers and they are indeed found in the great book called the Bible. Throughout time the Bible has been used for wrong, but it has also been used to make so many things right. So go in faith today, being confident that the One who began a good work in you will not rest until He has completed it within you. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Adult Bible Challenge:
Tier 1: Download the Bible YouVersion App onto your phone.
Tier 2: Find a Bible plan and do day one or continue if you already started one previously. Set a daily reminder so that the app can notify you each day to finish.
Tier 3: Use the Bible tools to highlight a key scripture and save it.
Tier 4: Share it with a friend or on Social Media.
Thank you for taking the chance to make a difference today.
Thank you for scrolling all the way to the end...mmm...lol.
Challenge for kids of all ages:
Tier 1: Watch a Bible Adventure (0-6 years) or Superbook episode (age 5-142 years of age) on Youtube.
Tier 2: Read a bible story or the bible with a child today.
Tier 3: Dance to a VBS song on Youtube with someone that you love.
May God continue to bless and keep us all faithfully strong as He continues to weave us together with our brothers and sisters around the world and beyond. Keep following the STAR.
Thank you, Amen.
Photo taken at National Museum of African American History and Culture in February.
Comments