Day 228 Bible Readings – Psalm 119: 75-76 (ESV)

2 Chronicles 5 & 6, 1 Corinthians 11, Psalm : 119: 73-80

 Psalm 119: 75-76 (ESV)

“I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.”

Verses 75 and 76 from Psalm 119 talks about how a person of great faith thinks about God. When you have great faith in God and you go through a season of suffering, you can still proclaim that God is right. And that even when you are suffering you know that God is still faithful to you, and will comfort you with his steadfast love in the seasons of suffering. And you know only that because God made promises to us his children.

I think that praising God and believing that he is always right in a season of suffering is the hardest thing to do. Even when we aren’t suffering but we hear of bad things happening to other people, it is so human to wonder “Where was God? Why did he allow this happen?” But if we work daily on our relationship with God by reading his words and meditating on his words, we can quiet these questions and rely on our understanding of God’s love for us. We will know that each bad and good thing happening in the world is part of God for further his plan for humanity.

Day 227 Bible Readings – 1 Corinthians 10: 23 (ESV)

2 Chronicles: 2-4, 1 Corinthians 9: 19-27, 1 Corinthians 10, Psalm 119: 65-72

1 Corinthians 10: 23 (ESV)

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”

Verse 23 from 1 Corinthians 10 is Paul’s advice to the Church of Corinth to do everything for God. Paul tells them God allows all things, but not everything is helpful or will build up a person who has faith in God. There are some people of faith who want to find out how much they can get away with and still be a person of faith in God. Paul tells them to seek only things that are beneficial to a person with faith in God. Paul also reminds each person of faith must always consider what is good for all people of faith, instead of only thinking what is good for me alone. Paul tells them we need to consider if our actions or decisions harm others in the faith.

Paul’s advice applies to all people of faith, especially in our world today. Unlike the people in Paul’s time, we have so many choices for how to spend our time and money. As a person of faith, we must always consider if the thing we seek is helpful, will build us up, is beneficial, and will not harm others in faith. If we keep these questions in mind for every decision we make, we can be confident that our life will always be focused on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

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."