Day 226 Bible Readings – 2 Chronicles 1: 11-12 (ESV)

2 Chronicles 1, 1 Corinthian 9: 1-18, Psalm 119: 57-64

2 Chronicles 1: 11-12 (ESV)

“God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”

Verses 11 and 12 from 2 Chronicles 1 shows us God’s answer to Solomon when he asked God for “Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” Solomon had asked for wisdom from God to govern, and God searched his heart for his true motives. When God found out that Solomon was sincere in only asking for wisdom to rule, God rewarded him by instead giving me “riches, possessions, and honor”. These verses show the generosity of God to those who are asking advice from him, but it also shows that God has a plan for each of us that is unknown to us until we ask for help. We never know what God’s plan has for us until we ask him for help to lead our lives. I think these verses also show that God’s plan for us is so much more than we can even imagine for ourselves. As followers of Christ, we need to ask God for wisdom to lead our lives. His answers may surprise us and lead us to a life of unimaginable abundance.

My Experience with Anointing

The pastor at my church on Wednesday talked about a season in his life where he was very stressed and desperate about what was going on in his life. He talked about "betting the farm" on Jesus and wondering at the time, if he had "bet the farm on Jesus". He finally came to a point in his life where he decided to go all in with God and "bet the farm on Christ",  and the peace it gave him that morning. His issues were still there, but he felt this amazing sense of peace after his decision.

During his talk, I was in tears. I did not go if I had ever decided to go "all in with Jesus."  Would I ever "bet the farm on Jesus?" After all these years with my journey with God, I did not have a definitive answer on whether at any point in my life, I had "bet the farm on God."

My pastor ended up quoting this bible verse - 2 Chronicles 16: 9 -  "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him."

After his talk, my pastor said he was going to anoint anyone with oil who wanted to be anointed and wanted to make the decision to "bet the farm on God." He invited the other pastors and any staff who was there to come up on stage and form a tunnel, so anyone who wanted to get anointed could walk through the tunnel of people. He then invited the pastors to staff to lay their hands on people if inspired and bless the person who had been anointed. 

I decided I need to make a public declaration that I was willing to "bet the farm on God." It was an amazing feel to be anointed with oil, and to walk through the tunnel of people hearing people bless me and/or lay their hands on me. Afterwards, I couldn't fall asleep. It felt like something life changing had happened to me, and my body was too excited and on fire to rest. 

I finally did doze off and when I woke up this morning, I felt refreshed despite getting very little sleep. I have no idea what this anointing experience will do in my life, but I am excited to see what enfolds since I am now "betting the farm on God."

Day 225 Bible Readings – 1 Corinthians 8: 12 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 10-12, 1 Corinthians 7: 36-40, 1 Corinthians 8, Psalm 119: 49-56

1 Corinthians 8: 12 (ESV)

“Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”

Verse 12 from 1 Corinthians 8 shows Paul’s advice to the Church of Corinth to treat other people in the church well. If we commit sins against other people because their faith or their conscience is weak, we are sinning against Christ. We cannot encourage other people to sin even though their faith is weak. I like Paul’s advice here because it reinforces that we need to treat each other with kindness, and that God will judge us for how we treat other people even those who are not of the faith. We must always be kind to everyone no matter what their faith, and not encourage them to sin against God just because they are not of the faith.

Day 224 Bible Readings – 1 Corinthians 7: 17 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 7-9, 1 Corinthians 7: 17-35, Psalm 119: 41-48

1 Corinthians 7: 17 (ESV)

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”

Verse 17 from 1 Corinthians 7 is Paul’s advice to church in Corinth that no matter what your status is in life, God has assigned that life to you and you have a role in God’s plan. God is all powerful and will use each person who has faith in him to further his plans on earth. Bible commentaries written that Paul meant that a church goer does not have change their life to be useful to God. You can live that life that God has given you because all things come from God. Also implicit in this advice is to not compare yourself to others or think that other people have it better than you do. Each person has their own journey with God. They have their own lessons to learn no matter what their status is in the world. I think this is good advice because I know for myself that I sometimes see other people in church and envy their life. But I have also met people who look at me and when I’ve gotten to know them, told me they envy my life. We all think the other person has it better than we do. But everyone has lessons. What might be hard for me, will be easy for someone else. What will be easy for me, might be impossible for someone else. As a person with faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we only need to be concerned with how God views and judges us and not with anyone else.