I must say the PGA final was one of the best ever, for two reasons: someone other than Tiger Woods won (I like to have different winners.) and the flat screen HD picture was amazing.
This weekend can be summed up in one word: CLEAN! I hope when the new week starts I am not digging in laundry baskets of washed clothes to find socks and underwear.
I also wanted to mention now that I am planning to read through the Word again next year. (I will probably read it every year until Jesus comes.) My blog post every day will be about the reading but will take a little different format. God and I are still in the planning stages. He's planning and I'm listening. I say that to say this, plan to join me again and invite a friend.
Ya'll have a good weekend.
Sunday is going to be a great day. We have some very special friends that are going to be baptized. How wonderful, father, mother, and son. Evans family, we are so happy to share this day with you.
I also wanted to mention now that I am planning to read through the Word again next year. (I will probably read it every year until Jesus comes.) My blog post every day will be about the reading but will take a little different format. God and I are still in the planning stages. He's planning and I'm listening. I say that to say this, plan to join me again and invite a friend.
Ya'll have a good weekend.
13 Comments:
Dear, dear Wendy...my heart is going pitter-patter in excitement of joining you AGAIN next year! I too will be doing it over and over again until His returns! Daily, I want to meditate on His Word and know God more as each passing day slips by. Studying God's Word with sisters that are as excited about God as I am is the best way to start the day!
As each week slips by, it's not hard to notice just how much we've read, and how little is left. This was one "goal," that I actually did not want to see come to an end! Now, the end will mark the "new beginning!" I will begin praying for our new year together!
Love you Wendy! Love all you special sisters!!!
ENJOY the weekend!
Praise our heavenly Father for the many blessings we have! Lord, I hope I can model your love this weekend. "Win my husband over without words, but by the behavior I model." For Your Word says, "For nothing is impossible with God."
Hugs, Lori - AZ
Wendy,
I am glad you are doing the study again next year. It was late when I joined and it will be good to go back. It is my heart to continue in this study as well.
Did you notice something cooking in this mornings lesson? Love the illustration in Ezekiel 24:1-14.
Then the final statement in 14 where He says "you will be judged on the basis of your wicked actions, says the Sovereign Lord.
I don't know about anyone else but sometimes I worry about the judgment of others over my actions. All of them,the good, the bad and the ugly. As I continue in God's word it confirms to me that the moral compass that guides my heart and walk only needs to line up with him.
He is the one I answer to.
He is my savior;
He will judge me;
He will redeem me;
He will give me grace;
He will use me when I let Him;
He and only He can set me free.
These are the savory facts I found in today's message.
Have a great weekend. I am out with some girlfriends today.
Hugs,
Diane
Did I miss the birth of the baby?
Just popping in to catch up after a very busy week - I have been doing the readings as well as logging in to read all of your entries but have been too short on time to be able to respond.
Very excited to hear we will journey again together next year! I can hardly wait to see what God has in store for all of us along the Journey 2010!
This year I have coupled this study with a daily devotional and a bible study book (a one chapter a week read/discussion format) and it has been so incredible to me how many times the message God whispers to me is repeated solidly all the way through.
I have gained so much from reading the Bible in this format - I talk about it all the time! It sparks so much interest! Three of my friends have already bought a copy and have jumped in mid-journey - I am certain they will join us next year for the entire walk.
I have to be honest about today's reading...I had to read through two times before the words God wanted to place on my heart jumped out at me:
I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall [of righteousness] so I wouldn't have to destroy the land, but I found no one. Ezekiel 22:30
Studying the OT has really brought it home to me more than ever before how much we needed our savior and how loving God is to have brought himself to us in such humble and pure form.
Of course we would all like to think we could be the ones to rebuild the wall or stand in the gap...but though our intentions are pure, we are sinners nevertheless, and we cannot do it without our God, his Son, and the power of the Spirit.
It amazes me how God's mercy can bring you to your kness and lift you up to heaven and the comfort of his love all at the same time!
Praying for you all this weekend, as always. May you feel God's healing touch wherever it is needed.
Blessings, sisters!
Liz
AK
Wendy, I am so glad you are going to do this study again....I was sad to think that it would be over at the end of the year. Now I have the new study to look forward to. Thank you for listening to the Lord.
Hope all of you lovely sisters have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow in church.
Am praying for all of you, especially for those of you who have unbelieving/backslidden husbands. Please everyone, increase your prayers for these men. How homes and marriages would change if they would come to the Lord.
Keep studying. :)
Jan Hobbs
I don't post often, but I enjoy reading the post every day and the comments. They are always so uplifting.
I look forward to reading through the Bible with you all again next year. I am so thankfu to you Wendy, that you are willing to do this all again.
Blessings for the new week.
Elizabeth in AR
Thank you Wendy for your announcement yesterday! I join all my sisters here in being excited to join you next year as well and I am also looking forward to your new format! (No pressure!)
Liz, I also noted the verse you noted in yesterday's reading (Ezekiel 22:30). It reminded my that God searches the earth for someone to stand in the gap and bring His will to His people; "His will be done on Earth and it is in Heaven." Sometimes he finds no-one. My prayer is that I don't miss it when His eyes land on me. If I am the one Lord, who can fill the gap, let me know Lord, so I can serve you.
Today, I couldn't get past the death of Ezekiel's wife! I surely understood the message and the "acting out of the message" that Ezekiel so faithfully did, but my mind kept returning to the day of the prophesy... What would you do if God told you, "I'm taking your spouse from this earth tomorrow; "I will take away your dearest treasure..." Would you fall on your knees right there and then and say "Please spare (him/her)! Is there no other way to make your point?" And what of his wife! How did she feel to hear her husband telling the world "My wife is going to die tomorrow and the Lord has forbidden me to publicly mourn her..." I might have a few words to say with my Husband about that!
Do you think both Ezekiel and his wife believed she would go to a better place? This is before the saving act of Christ. I was awed and humbled by this passage. I was also very saddened by what followed; Ezekiel 24: 21-14
"21 and I was told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left behind in Judea will be slaughtered by the sword. 22 Then you will do as Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating the food brought by friends. 23 Your heads will remain covered, and your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins. You will mourn privately for all the evil you have done. 24 Ezekiel is an example for you; you will do just as he has done. And when that time comes, you will know that I am the Lord.”
They lose everything and they do not mourn. I ask myself, is the world doing this today? Like some discussed last week about the loss of the sanctification of the Church and the loss of the Sabbath. We are losing our sacred places and our sacred times; those that set us apart as Children of the Most High, and yet we do not mourn. I do... maybe this is what God is showing me, and calling me to stand in the gap; to show others that we cannot lose our sacred places and survive.
Sorry to be so long and so solemn today...I hope you all have a blessed Sabbath!
Karen, Basel
Hi Wendy,
I'm wondering if you're planning to use the NLT again? This morning, I began praying about who God wants me to ask and I thought I'd purchase some Bibles, to be able to give as Christmas gifts.
May each of you be filled with the Holy Spirit today; may you live today in victory as you see God's Glory in everything you do.
Hugs,
Lori - AZ
Dear Wendy,
Thank you for doing this again next year. I look forward to this everyday, and have been wondering what to do next when we come to the end of reading God's word for this year. Thank you for your comments on each day's reading. Knowing that other like-minded sisters 'in the Lord' are reading along with me is very encouraging.
God bless you.
Lori
I will be using the NLT. I just love this translation. We will be running the same Read Through the Word devo in November this year in hopes to have new friends join us on the journey.
Didn't you just love the passage about Ezekiel's wife dying? It was so meaningful to me.
Thanks Wendy, I love the NLT! I have so much to learn!
The Lord uses his wife's death to show us symbolically God's sorrow over the death of His nation. He allowed Ezekiel to become a living sign of God's sorrow. Today we must have the sign of the cross of Christ over every part of our life. To be so in-relationship with God as Ezekiel must have been. He loved God and obey God and followed God.
I pray that I will have a heart like God's that will cause me to become heartbroken over my own sin, and to be truly heartbroken over the sins of others to the point that I pray for them rather than judge them. I'm reading God's Word daily and it is still hard to stay on the narrow path. Imagine those that do not read the Bible? It's hopeless for them. Lord, help me not judge, but feel truly heartbroken! Help me remain so close to You, that I will hear your voice and know when I'm not in Your Will. The more you unveil to me, the closer I feel to you and the more I seek your presence all day long.
Blessings dear friends on this glorious day! Lori - AZ
Dear Wendy
I am also one of the many thankful ladies anticipating another year of following your lead as we sometimes skip and sometimes wade through Scripture. I am thankful for you all along this journey, giving me clarity and new perspectives on so many levels. I am not really gifted with words, and have therefore been a "silent follower"... But, as I have been wondering about "what happens next" and Wendy shared her vision to continue, I had to be heard! I started up right away with the study, when Wendy asked who was up for the journey last year - I had the Bible, and it had been a while since I had read alone. October 1st 2008 was my start date and I have been blessed beyond words and look forward each day to reading your various perspectives and insights. Wouldn't it be great to set a date and ask all to "come on out and be counted"?! Thank you!
Love and prayers
Marianne
PS: I live in Anacortes WA, and I am one of the first few who are up and studying - Joy and Lori are often there already! I go back when I get home from work to catch up on what I have missed out on!
Oh Wendy, I'm so excited that you are going to do this again next year!!!! I know God will speak to my heart differently because each day is new and His Word is active and alive.
This weekend held some precious verses for me. Saturday my heart rejoiced in remembering how the Lord spoke to my Dad through Ezekiel 22:30, “I searched for someone to stand in the gap…but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30 It was such a personal message for a specific time in his life.
Today my heart was taken by “Then you will know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 25:5
“Then” moments.
I underlined that phrase, or one almost identical to it, nine times in my reading this morning. Each time it followed a list of horrific consequences for sin. Punishment for choices made as the people wandered down paths, abandoning God.
Unable to see their own godlessness, the Lord needed to get their attention. Repeated disobedience had toughened their skin making them callus to the gentle nudge of His Spirit inviting them to repent and return. Forgiveness was not appreciated. It was taken for granted. God’s grace was expected and so sin continued to abound. Pride and arrogance were a double blindfold over their mind, keeping them from understanding the error of their ways. There was no reverent fear of the Lord. They were serving the almighty. Self almighty.
Someone so dear to me is walking destruction’s path. Convinced completely that God is guiding them to act in ways so contrary to His Word, they have fooled themselves into believing their relationship with God is tight and close. They are crediting God for opening doors that He would never open. In fact, He’d place a huge barricade before them, warning that choosing these paths were sin. They are living a life in total abandonment of God and His Word and pursing dishonest gain, lust, adultery, materialism, manipulation, blackmail and lies, all the while claiming God is directing them. It frightens me.
Look at the ways the Lord got the peoples attention in this passage today. Children killed. Loneliness. Abandonment. Loss of livelihood. Judgment. Destruction. Removal of strength and power. War. Famine. Disease. It scares me to think how the Lord will get a hold of this person’s heart, and bring them back so they again will recognize that He is LORD. At the same time, it scares me even more that satan has them so bound that they will continue to turn a deaf ear to God’s warnings.
I would love to pray that God would bring a quiet “then” moment into their life. A gentle awakening to the depth of His love and the power of the cross. A sudden awareness and awakening that what they call “happiness” God calls sin. Yet, there are consequences for blatantly defying the Lord. Father, break this dear one. Move in their life in such a way that they will know that You are the LORD.
Praying and trusting,
Joy
Wendy,
I am soooo glad you are willing to continue another year! It has been an unusual year for me, but God's Word through this study have been what I need when I need it!
I recently mentioned to my friend that I could do this study all over again, and it would be completely different. What an encouragement to see your announcement affirm what I was saying!
So much that I've missed, and sometimes I confess I've "skimmed over" what seemed too boring to read; yet your study has given me new eyes to search deeper. I thank God for you and this study!
Susan, VA
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