Thanks for Seeking God With Me.

If you need some Christian Nonfiction books to read, check out 5 Powerful Ways to Show Love and Heroine: Rising to the Challenge on Amazon

The Best Teacher

Ps 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Teachers are very important people. I love them. I’m related to a few of them. I know from experience that there are teachers who give a lot and teachers who can give very little. I’ve had teachers who have tried their best to bring lessons that would benefit me in some small way, and that’s exactly what happened. They benefited me in a very small way.

When God says He’ll give you instruction, accept His offer. He’s the best teacher you’ll ever find. When He says He’ll give you anything, accept His offer.

Instruction, wise counsel, forgiveness, and love are all things we can receive from someone else. It’s funny how we often look for love and forgiveness, but reject wisdom and instruction.

When that happens, I think we’re really just avoiding getting the wrong advice from the wrong teacher. We’ve all heard people giving out bad advice, and I agree that we should run from bad advice. But when the most experienced, most trustworthy, most wise teacher gives the invitation, we are fools to ignore Him.

For many years, I’ve been reading my Bible with the attitude that God has something for me in there. Something for that specific moment. It’s my job as the student to read the text and study the meanings until I understand the wise counsel and instruction in the words.

I’m grateful to God for His persistence with me. Every time I come to Him, I’m able to come away with something good to help me with my day. So I encourage you to open your heart to His instruction. God is a good teacher because He knows how you learn – and because He loves you.

God's Everyday Gifts

Psalm 16:2
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

It’s interesting how kids take their toys for granted. The kids don’t have jobs, so they can’t go out and purchase toys for themselves. They don’t have credit cards so they can’t order them online. They don’t realize that apart from their parents’ generous efforts (and gifts from others at Christmas and birthdays), they have no good thing.

This also applies to meals. My children are dependent on me for meals. If my husband and I don’t take them out to a restaurant or don’t buy groceries, they don’t eat. They rarely realize that apart from their parents’ efforts, they have no good meal.

You would think that as we grow older we would learn to appreciate God’s generosity. You’d think we would acknowledge God’s everyday gifts.

However if you look around, you’ll see how Americans have started to drift from the truth. We seem to look to food or entertainment for our comfort. We look to an employer for financial security. We look to an insurance company for security.

I believe God provides us with opportunities to interact with these businesses in a healthy relationship. But we seem to walk blindly away from God, mesmerized by our own decision-making power. We love the surge of power that comes from asking, “What do I want to do?”

I want to see this country turn the corner and head back to God with the question, “What does God want me to do?” I want to see this country pull together and try to salvage whatever love we still have for each other instead of growing colder and farther apart in our lust for self-power. I want to see this country realize that even in our self-righteous arrogance, we are dependent on God – and He still loves us.

I want to see this country get back to God because apart from Him, we have no good thing.

Give Me Understanding

Psalm 119:73
Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.

I’m thinking about food this month on my other blog, Blogging Domino. Cooking is a great way to escape the stresses of the day and relax with the aroma of warm bread or grilling meat. Practicing your culinary skills can be an outlet for your creativity as well.

One thing I’ve noticed through the years at family gatherings or at friends’ homes is that people are different in the way they approach cooking. Some use precise measurements. Others can look at a handful of cornstarch and know exactly how much they’re putting into the mixture.

My husband is the kind of cook who goes by the recipe. However, I don’t like to be bound by the limitations of the cook book. I add something each time to make it a little different than the last time I made the recipe. My niece has encouraged me with kind words about my salads. It’s rare that I ever make the same exact salad twice.

I think God gave me my ability to enjoy an incredible variety of things. But God made my son too. He’s a creative young man, but a very picky eater.

God creates people so that there is an enormous variety on Earth. No two people in my large extended family like exactly the same things.

That’s why I go to God so often. He made me and knows how I think. If I have questions about something, God would have the answer faster than any of my family or friends. God can give me understanding when I’m confused.

When you taste a soup that isn’t like any other soup you’ve tasted, you can go to the chef who made it and ask what’s in it. When you have a question about people, go to God. He’s the one who cooked up the original recipe and can tell you what’s in it.

Seeking Wisdom

Prov 2:10
For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

I recommend that everyone read the second chapter of Proverbs. The instructions there are easy to understand. The only problem is that you have to actually do what it says.

When you want to receive wisdom, go back to the first four verses of that chapter. The instructions are for us to listen to wisdom and accept wise commands. We’re supposed to search for understanding as if it were hidden treasure, and then apply it to your heart.

Some people don’t know how to search for wisdom and understanding, but verse six of that chapter clearly tells us to look at the wisdom in the Bible. “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

His words are wisdom and will protect us from men of wicked ways and men of perverse words.