Day 78/252 Book #21 Matthew

Went to doctors today with severe stomach pain, says I have digestion problems and IBS, will have to look at understanding which foods trigger this because my tummy is not a happy bunny.

Almost there…. Can almost taste Christmas but can’t quite reach it! 

Felt sick all day and ended up with migraine so had to miss Christmas SBS party…. However, I did sleep well, first night right through in, well, I can’t remember since when!!

Day 77/252 Yuck.

Had terrible stomach spasms today and sickness, don’t know why but think it’s food related. Pain.

Observed Matthew, sooooo loooooong!

Day 76/252 Kept by Him.

Woke up feeling sick and last thing I wanted to do was do the test. I decided to call it a quiz to make me feel better!

Felt peace about it and just thought well, if I don’t know it by now then I don’t know it…! This it went really well in the end!

One of my friends put it like this:

‘End of term test done! Woot! Astheticism, liberalism, Sadducees, Pharisees, Claudius, Nero, Famine, Council of Jerusalem, c.30AD, 49AD, 64AD ..... I probably spelt nothing right on this test lol’

Sounds about right!

Loved charting today, revelation! This from my Vertical charts. Especially this bit which really blew my heart up…

‘The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.’ 2 Peter 3:9

Peter reacts to a possible untruth told about Christ’s coming back. He says that the Lord is not slow in fulfilling his promise. Why would he say this unless he has heard they are being lied to!? The scoffers doubted the promise 3:4. The coming of the Lord was a big deal because of the hope they had through this promise. They needed this assurance and they had it before the false teachers came. Peter goes on to say ‘as some would count slowness’. 

Perhaps they were telling the churches that the Lord was slow deliberately making them wait in vain, not saving them from their persecution, suggesting he was untruthful to his word. When in fact it was the false teachers who were untrustworthy. Peter goes on to say the Lord is patient not wishing anyone should perish. This would have quietened the voice of liars. 

Peter is speaking out God’s character, he is patient, but he is also merciful. He doesn’t want anyone to perish, he wants all to reach salvation. How glorious that truth is in light of the deception the churches would have been facing. A God they could count on to love them and wait patiently for others to come to know him!

Another bit that really got me was when Peter writes; According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 4:4-5

Day 75/252 Book# 20 Jude

Had an AWESOME lecture on Jude today by Andy, wow loved it. Here’s a glimpse from my charting…

Figurative Language: Jude describes the false teachers or ‘certain people’ among the churches as ‘Waterless clouds…Swept away by winds…wandering stars.’ Here he uses figurative language which is beautiful but also a very Jewish way of writing, considering this was most likely to a Jewish audience. 

It’s beautiful because it is poetic but what Jude is describing is far from pretty. ‘Waterless clouds’, means that they are empty, devoid of any use, especially not for refreshment or for watering the ground. Which is what clouds are normally for; growing crops and refreshing parched lands. In direct contrast to the water of life Jesus brings. 

He says they are ‘swept away by winds’, meaning they are unstable and easily changed, fickle and changeable in nature. People like this usually snap at you in irritation when you do something they don’t like because they are not secure and have no identity to stand on. Not enjoyable people to be around, they would have been like poison to the churches. 

He calls them ‘wandering stars’, which have no use at all. Stars were used to guide yourself by in the night sky, they were extremely important, because they were fixed points to navigate. If one was wandering it would have been dangerous, you could have got lost at night or even worse, lost at sea. 

Jude is basically using these examples to tell the church they need to stay away, not only are these people false, empty and useless but they are extremely dangerous!

Day 74/252 Because of love.

Today I was struggling to find anywhere quiet where I just be with my Father God. I knew I needed to re focus and just be his daughter but I was panicky when people were everywhere to the point of crying. Eventually I found somewhere and read this. It made me weep as my heart was squeezed with the reminder of why I’m doing this, because I just love him.

'Alexander Maclaren, the great Scottish preacher, attributed everything he knew to one habit: spending an hour each day alone with God. 

Sometimes he allowed others into his study, but they were never allowed to speak. Maclaren would sit in a well-worn armchair with his Bible lying across his knees. Sometimes he’d read its pages, but mostly he’d just sit with his hand over his face. 

During that hour he wouldn’t read the Bible as a student, or study it for sermons. One of his assistants noted, ‘He read it as a child would read a letter from an absent father, or your heart would drink in the words of a loved one from far away.’ 

How well do you know the Lord? How well do you want to know Him? The answer is not in what you say, but in what you do. What you truly desire, you pursue. The Psalmist said, ‘When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.’’’

http://www.ucb.co.uk/word-for-today-22933.html

Day 73/252 Book #19 2 Peter

I think I’m enjoying the 2 Peter’s more than a lot of other books we’ve studied, looking forward to charting and taking that time with God. Very tired though but will push through.

Pondering on this today…

http://brenebrown.com/2013/12/10/rsabear/

Day 72/252 Book #18 1 Peter

Giving myself freedom to have time to myself today. Amongst getting back into the swing of everything. Read some of my novel, went of a walk, felt the fresh air on my face – it was like a holiday! I need to do more of this.