My keyword for this year is "Proclaim." I haven't done a very good job of doing that but hopefully can rectify that in the next five months.
One thing I have written about in the past are my Bible reading disciplines. It has been years, I believe, since I wrote about them so I would like to share them again.
Every day I read five Psalms--no matter what--whether I am in another deep Bible study--no matter what--I read five Psalms everyday.
Let me tell you my rationale on that but first let me tell you how I do it. This was not my idea--I read it somewhere--but it has paid tremendous dividends for me so I want to share.
If it is August 1 like today, I read
Psalm 1, Psalm 31, Psalm 61, Psalm 91 and Psalm 121. See the pattern--whatever day of the month it is, I start there and add 30 to it until I get to the end of the book of Psalms.
I used to just read them and that was all. Now I not only read them and meditate on them but many days copy much of them into my daily journal.
I am retired and have the luxury of time to do this BUT most of us spend as much time as it would take to do this watching TV or reading secular material etc. So let's face it and be realistic, most of us do have the time even if we have to set our alarm clocks to get up an hour early.
I have read that many of the great saints of God arose at unheard of times to spend quality time with the Lord.
Previously on my blog (when I was younger), I have tried so hard to not hurt people's feelings and to say things ever so gently, but people I don't have time for that anymore. I am almost 73 years old and I need to talk straight.
I am not being self-righteous or holier than thou. In fact, those people who would accuse someone else of those things are no doubt guilty of the same thing. What we see in others is usually what we are guilty of--I think you will find that validated in scripture in Romans 2:1.
What I am saying is this--most of us who say we don't have time to linger in God's Word--that is just not true--it is our priorities.
Now let me try to explain my rationale for reading five Psalms each day.
We never have the excuse--"I just don't know where to start or what to read today." There is nothing Satan hates worse than to see a child of God become immersed in the Word of God.
Each day when I read the Psalms, I try to choose an exact word, phrase or scripture that pounds some meaning into my spirit for the day. Tomorrow I will share the scriptures that God writes on the tablet of my heart for Wednesday, August 2. I always, always, always look forward to what God has to say to me. I don't know what I would do without His Word.
For ours is not a battle of flesh and blood but of powers and principalities--
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Dear Ones, when we immerse ourselves in God's Word daily we become equipped to fight these battles in the way that God intends--in the way that will be victorious.
So be encouraged dear brother, dear sister in Christ. If God is for us, who can be against us.
About the art--Long story that I will try to shorten--This is a prototype for a larger canvas I will do soon--Some friends of ours lost their home in the Tennessee mountain fires last fall--the stories are harrowing of how people got off that mountain that was ablaze.
So the angel has his/her face to the fire and you can see the reflections of the flames--I added the black for some definition and then later realized that it resembles a sword--symbolizing to me the sword of the Spirit--it appears to be melting in one place but praise God continued to do its job of fighting against the enemy and rescuing that precious family.
Our friends felt as if an angel led them through the fire to safety and this is what I tried to create.
© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017 |
