May 7, 2011
I had an “…all is vanity” sort of experience recently. However, I’m positive that without this study of Ecclesiastes I would not look at it like that. Yet, for me it was an eye-opening sort of moment. I realized, way after the fact, unfortunately. How really vain our lives can be and how very much aware we must remain of this fact? I’m using vain in the way that Solomon intended, really more like temporary, and as such, we should be more careful how we view our lives. How we live each moment judging the important from the temporary. I’m not sure how other people handle it but past mistakes used to have devastating effects on me. I would dwell on them; I would continue to bring them to my mind. As I’ve grown older, and more importantly, closer to God, I realize that God gives us those moments to grow in. Although they are no less hurtful in their aftermaths, I try to not allow myself to bring them up constantly. Instead, I try very hard to not make the same mistakes again. As I stand looking back on my life, much like Solomon, I will have this very real and concrete example of the vanity of life to remind me. Yay me! (said with much sarcasm!)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Enjoying the Moments...
May 4, 2011
Ecclesiastes 2:15-26
V 24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil
As the author looks back on his life he sees all that he has worked for and he realizes one important fact; all of us die. The person who has lived a life of fruitful toil the one who actually tried to make a difference will pass away just like the one who lived his life squandering what he has been given. Since death is a certainty for everyone, it is important to enjoy what we do here. As Solomon is looking back on his life he realizes the importance of living in the now. To enjoy today; to live our lives so fully that if today were it we would have no regrets. Who does that, who puts 100% of who they are into each day? I know that I don’t, I know that at times I live as if I’m guaranteed tomorrow. Which I know we are not; yet, on some days this is what my life reflects. We are told to find enjoyment in our work, in our everyday lives. In the just average moments of our life, live those as if they were our last.
Ecclesiastes 2:15-26
V 24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil
As the author looks back on his life he sees all that he has worked for and he realizes one important fact; all of us die. The person who has lived a life of fruitful toil the one who actually tried to make a difference will pass away just like the one who lived his life squandering what he has been given. Since death is a certainty for everyone, it is important to enjoy what we do here. As Solomon is looking back on his life he realizes the importance of living in the now. To enjoy today; to live our lives so fully that if today were it we would have no regrets. Who does that, who puts 100% of who they are into each day? I know that I don’t, I know that at times I live as if I’m guaranteed tomorrow. Which I know we are not; yet, on some days this is what my life reflects. We are told to find enjoyment in our work, in our everyday lives. In the just average moments of our life, live those as if they were our last.
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My Journey in Ecclesiastes
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Is the Important Worthless?
May 3, 2011
Psalm 12:8 …and what is worthless is exalted by the human race (HCSB)
I sometimes read Psalms in my prayer and today I was reading this and was stopped in my tracks by this verse. The ESV reads it like this “…as vileness is exalted among the children of man.” Whichever translation you prefer it is clear that we, as humans, tend to place importance on those things that do not deserve it. What we think of as important, as vital, to our survival is in fact worth little in God’s kingdom. I knew immediately what this verse was referring to in my life. I knew what God was speaking to in my heart. But had I really thought of this as worthless or vile. No, and neither would the vast majority of the world, even believers. Yet, I know that God would consider them as worthless. Paul tells us to examine ourselves, although he is speaking of our salvation; I think it is also beneficial to examine what we are placing our importance on in our lives. What we view as important, what we teach our children as important. If it is something God would consider vile or worthless; perhaps, we should change our priorities.
Psalm 12:8 …and what is worthless is exalted by the human race (HCSB)
I sometimes read Psalms in my prayer and today I was reading this and was stopped in my tracks by this verse. The ESV reads it like this “…as vileness is exalted among the children of man.” Whichever translation you prefer it is clear that we, as humans, tend to place importance on those things that do not deserve it. What we think of as important, as vital, to our survival is in fact worth little in God’s kingdom. I knew immediately what this verse was referring to in my life. I knew what God was speaking to in my heart. But had I really thought of this as worthless or vile. No, and neither would the vast majority of the world, even believers. Yet, I know that God would consider them as worthless. Paul tells us to examine ourselves, although he is speaking of our salvation; I think it is also beneficial to examine what we are placing our importance on in our lives. What we view as important, what we teach our children as important. If it is something God would consider vile or worthless; perhaps, we should change our priorities.
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My Journey
Monday, May 2, 2011
Heads Up...
May 2, 2011
Ecclesiastes 2:12-14
V 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them
How true it is that most of us encounter the same things in life just in many various forms. We all experience death of someone we love, we all experience arguments, we all experience money problems. They may manifest themselves in many ways but basically we all walk along similar paths. Yet, many of us handle them differently. I believe that the degree to which we are walking, or perhaps not walking, with God determines our reactions. Remember our outward reactions are not the ones that count. The reactions that count are the one’s of the heart that man will never see. Wisdom and I believe that this is godly wisdom, about who God is and what His statues are, will help determine our reactions to problems. Knowing who God is will help us to know how God would want us to react. The more we know God the more we know that this world and all it’s problems are temporary. I also think that God in His word has given us a heads up. He told us that we would have bad things happen to us. As believers we shouldn’t be surprised when we suffer, instead, we should be prepared.
Ecclesiastes 2:12-14
V 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them
How true it is that most of us encounter the same things in life just in many various forms. We all experience death of someone we love, we all experience arguments, we all experience money problems. They may manifest themselves in many ways but basically we all walk along similar paths. Yet, many of us handle them differently. I believe that the degree to which we are walking, or perhaps not walking, with God determines our reactions. Remember our outward reactions are not the ones that count. The reactions that count are the one’s of the heart that man will never see. Wisdom and I believe that this is godly wisdom, about who God is and what His statues are, will help determine our reactions to problems. Knowing who God is will help us to know how God would want us to react. The more we know God the more we know that this world and all it’s problems are temporary. I also think that God in His word has given us a heads up. He told us that we would have bad things happen to us. As believers we shouldn’t be surprised when we suffer, instead, we should be prepared.
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My Journey in Ecclesiastes
Friday, April 29, 2011
Happily Ever After...
April 29, 2011
Being a girl I was totally up at 4:00 this morning to see the wedding…or really the dress, hey, I’m being honest. I remember being a little girl, 7 or so, and watching Charles and Di’s wedding while on the phone with my BFF! I have always been a sucker for royalty, for fairytales. Little did I know at the time, what hid behind the fairytale of Charles and Di’s wedding. Apparently there was no love just duty. How sad is that? I firmly believe with all my heart that God constituted marriage, and in that institution He wants happiness and love for us. The main reason is that our marriages are a representation of His Church and His Son. There is no excuse for believers to be in a loveless marriage. God did not intend for that. He intended for us to find happiness in each other and…in the marriage bed (yes, I actually typed that!) The main reason, I believe, that so many believers live in marriages less than what was intended is that they have an unrealistic definition of love. Love isn’t emotion but choice. Isn’t it funny that we find it easier to choose divorce but not love. We must at times choose to not dwell on hurts or we must choose to be unselfish. It’s our choice to love; therefore, it isn’t something you can fall “out” of on a whim. If you do fall “out” of love, you choose to do so. Little did I know at the ripe old age of 7 that one day I would grow up and marry my prince. I love him with all my heart, but I choose to. I choose to love despite whatever might come our way, despite any anger or sadness that might creep into our marriage (and he does the same!) We don’t have a perfect marriage but we have a wonderful one!
Being a girl I was totally up at 4:00 this morning to see the wedding…or really the dress, hey, I’m being honest. I remember being a little girl, 7 or so, and watching Charles and Di’s wedding while on the phone with my BFF! I have always been a sucker for royalty, for fairytales. Little did I know at the time, what hid behind the fairytale of Charles and Di’s wedding. Apparently there was no love just duty. How sad is that? I firmly believe with all my heart that God constituted marriage, and in that institution He wants happiness and love for us. The main reason is that our marriages are a representation of His Church and His Son. There is no excuse for believers to be in a loveless marriage. God did not intend for that. He intended for us to find happiness in each other and…in the marriage bed (yes, I actually typed that!) The main reason, I believe, that so many believers live in marriages less than what was intended is that they have an unrealistic definition of love. Love isn’t emotion but choice. Isn’t it funny that we find it easier to choose divorce but not love. We must at times choose to not dwell on hurts or we must choose to be unselfish. It’s our choice to love; therefore, it isn’t something you can fall “out” of on a whim. If you do fall “out” of love, you choose to do so. Little did I know at the ripe old age of 7 that one day I would grow up and marry my prince. I love him with all my heart, but I choose to. I choose to love despite whatever might come our way, despite any anger or sadness that might creep into our marriage (and he does the same!) We don’t have a perfect marriage but we have a wonderful one!
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My Journey
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Which to Choose?
April 26, 2011
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
V 8 …the delights of men
In this passage, the author recounts all that he had accomplished and amassed during his time on earth. As he looks back on his life he realizes that no matter how much “stuff” he has, it has amounted to nothing. All that was gained is the momentary pleasure of what he had. Oddly enough, when I came to the phrase “…delights of men” what came to my mind wasn’t material things or any carnal delight of the flesh. What came to my mind was making choices to do the easy thing rather than the harder but more productive choice. For example, choosing to ignore the fact when our children need discipline and just letting them get by with bad behavior because it would require something of us. I think that in every decision we are confronted with a choice to grow in our dependence on God or to give in to our flesh. It is a battle, and we shouldn’t think that it is anything less.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
V 8 …the delights of men
In this passage, the author recounts all that he had accomplished and amassed during his time on earth. As he looks back on his life he realizes that no matter how much “stuff” he has, it has amounted to nothing. All that was gained is the momentary pleasure of what he had. Oddly enough, when I came to the phrase “…delights of men” what came to my mind wasn’t material things or any carnal delight of the flesh. What came to my mind was making choices to do the easy thing rather than the harder but more productive choice. For example, choosing to ignore the fact when our children need discipline and just letting them get by with bad behavior because it would require something of us. I think that in every decision we are confronted with a choice to grow in our dependence on God or to give in to our flesh. It is a battle, and we shouldn’t think that it is anything less.
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My Journey in Ecclesiastes
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Path of Understanding Leads to Trusting...
April 21, 2011
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
Well I almost gave up on Ecclesiastes after this passage; I had decided that I didn’t posses enough wisdom to tackle this book of wisdom. How thankful am I that MacArthur’s Study Bible can be of great help! Solomon, who had been given great wisdom, decided to apply it to the natural world. He wanted to look around at everything and figure out why and how things happened the way they did. Yet, at each turn his perception became more foggy, and he couldn’t understand anything. Some paths that he tried to “see” down were too crooked and never became straight. The reason for this is God’s Sovereignty. Many times no matter how hard we try to figure out why something happened, we will be unsuccessful because only God really knows why things happen the way they do. Only God can see what will happen as a result of every action. Solomon realized this in his quest to understand. We must too. We will never understand all the paths of our lives; we will never understand why we hurt or why we laugh. We will never understand the blessings we receive of the blessings that are denied us. Only God controls that. It is futile to fight that, in fact, it’s arrogant to assure that we should be able to understand or control. If Solomon didn’t posses enough wisdom to understand, and he had been given an “extra measure of wisdom”, how can we ever assume we could understand? Instead, I think our responsibility is harder than understanding, it’s trusting. We must trust that God is in complete control and we must trust that “He will cause all things to work to the good of those who love Him.”
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
Well I almost gave up on Ecclesiastes after this passage; I had decided that I didn’t posses enough wisdom to tackle this book of wisdom. How thankful am I that MacArthur’s Study Bible can be of great help! Solomon, who had been given great wisdom, decided to apply it to the natural world. He wanted to look around at everything and figure out why and how things happened the way they did. Yet, at each turn his perception became more foggy, and he couldn’t understand anything. Some paths that he tried to “see” down were too crooked and never became straight. The reason for this is God’s Sovereignty. Many times no matter how hard we try to figure out why something happened, we will be unsuccessful because only God really knows why things happen the way they do. Only God can see what will happen as a result of every action. Solomon realized this in his quest to understand. We must too. We will never understand all the paths of our lives; we will never understand why we hurt or why we laugh. We will never understand the blessings we receive of the blessings that are denied us. Only God controls that. It is futile to fight that, in fact, it’s arrogant to assure that we should be able to understand or control. If Solomon didn’t posses enough wisdom to understand, and he had been given an “extra measure of wisdom”, how can we ever assume we could understand? Instead, I think our responsibility is harder than understanding, it’s trusting. We must trust that God is in complete control and we must trust that “He will cause all things to work to the good of those who love Him.”
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My Journey in Ecclesiastes
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Pour Yourself Out...
April 19, 2011
Ecclesiastes 1:3-11
V 9 What will be is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun
In this section, the author laments on the vanity of the natural world. The seasons come and go, generations come and go and neither have any major impact on what will happen. Got to admit here I was a little bit depressed after reading this; I mean, if someone like Solomon did not feel as if he could make an impact what sort of one could I make. Then I remembered the author is making a point here. He is lamenting because he has spent a vast majority of his life pursing things that will not have an impact. The fact is we, as women, as mothers, as wives, can have a huge impact on the world. We may die with a relatively few people who know our name, but our influence could be felt from generation to generation. If we raise godly children who in turn learn from us and raise godly children who in turn raise godly children; think of the generations of godly men and women we have planted seeds for. Our family tree could boast many pastors, godly pastor’s wives, authors, and we impacted each of those when we choose to put aside our selves and poured our hearts and more importantly God’s Word into our children.
Ecclesiastes 1:3-11
V 9 What will be is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun
In this section, the author laments on the vanity of the natural world. The seasons come and go, generations come and go and neither have any major impact on what will happen. Got to admit here I was a little bit depressed after reading this; I mean, if someone like Solomon did not feel as if he could make an impact what sort of one could I make. Then I remembered the author is making a point here. He is lamenting because he has spent a vast majority of his life pursing things that will not have an impact. The fact is we, as women, as mothers, as wives, can have a huge impact on the world. We may die with a relatively few people who know our name, but our influence could be felt from generation to generation. If we raise godly children who in turn learn from us and raise godly children who in turn raise godly children; think of the generations of godly men and women we have planted seeds for. Our family tree could boast many pastors, godly pastor’s wives, authors, and we impacted each of those when we choose to put aside our selves and poured our hearts and more importantly God’s Word into our children.
Labels:
My Journey in Ecclesiastes
Monday, April 18, 2011
My Journey in Ecclesiastes...
April 18, 2011
Next on my journey through God’s Word, I’m heading to Ecclesiastes. Not sure why…it’s just one of those books I’ve never read in its entirety. Here’s a little background to get started.
Ecclesiastes is among what is known as the Bible’s Wisdom Literature. The author is most likely King Solomon but there is some debate about that. Those who do believe that King Solomon penned this book believe that he did so in his later years. They believe that he was talking to the younger population and he was telling them to not make his mistakes. He retells his past history of squandering God’s blessing for personal gain and not God’s glory. He doesn’t want those who follow him to make those same mistakes. So let’s see what we can learn from him.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
Vanity is a major theme of this book. The word vanity is used 38 times and each time there is a small shift in its intended meaning. This, of course, makes interpretation more difficult. Vanity in Hebrew means vapor. And considering that Solomon is looking back on his life he sees that all those things he thought were so important were but vapors. Only those things that will further God’s kingdom have substance. I wonder if at the end of my life how much will I view as smoke. How much will I have to wish I had done differently? I think that for the most part we all will have things we wish we could redo, but the goal, I believe, is to limit what those things are. Limit how much we will have to regret. The only way we have to accomplish this is to live lives that glorify God, live lives that leave no doubt who we live for.
Next on my journey through God’s Word, I’m heading to Ecclesiastes. Not sure why…it’s just one of those books I’ve never read in its entirety. Here’s a little background to get started.
Ecclesiastes is among what is known as the Bible’s Wisdom Literature. The author is most likely King Solomon but there is some debate about that. Those who do believe that King Solomon penned this book believe that he did so in his later years. They believe that he was talking to the younger population and he was telling them to not make his mistakes. He retells his past history of squandering God’s blessing for personal gain and not God’s glory. He doesn’t want those who follow him to make those same mistakes. So let’s see what we can learn from him.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
Vanity is a major theme of this book. The word vanity is used 38 times and each time there is a small shift in its intended meaning. This, of course, makes interpretation more difficult. Vanity in Hebrew means vapor. And considering that Solomon is looking back on his life he sees that all those things he thought were so important were but vapors. Only those things that will further God’s kingdom have substance. I wonder if at the end of my life how much will I view as smoke. How much will I have to wish I had done differently? I think that for the most part we all will have things we wish we could redo, but the goal, I believe, is to limit what those things are. Limit how much we will have to regret. The only way we have to accomplish this is to live lives that glorify God, live lives that leave no doubt who we live for.
Labels:
My Journey in Ecclesiastes
Friday, April 15, 2011
Being a Woman of Excellence...
April 15, 2011
Proverbs 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates
A woman of this magnitude who is excellent in her love for God, her taking care of her family, and her strength of character is known by those around her. In an earlier verse, it was noted that because of her taking such great care of her family her husband was well known in the city gates. Well the same is said for her here. Perhaps it is a case of others being able to “look” into her life and see all the riches, and I don’t just mean monetary, found there. The bible calls us, as believers, to be lights in a dark world; to show the world what living a life for Christ looks like. What sort of picture would we be if we act as if life is horrible for us? If we act as if our lives are lacking something, how can we show what an awesome savior we serve. As women, how can we point others to Christ if we act as though our lives are terrible? We can be women of excellence; everything we need in order to live like we are has been given to us. Remember earlier I noted that these verses are a picture of what her whole life looked like…if we were to look at what the total sum of all our days show what would we see? What would we need to change in order to be women of excellence? I don’t think that this great lady is someone we can never aspire to be but I do think that in order to exemplify some of her characteristics we must decide to let go of our self’s and put what we have into the family God has given to us.
Proverbs 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates
A woman of this magnitude who is excellent in her love for God, her taking care of her family, and her strength of character is known by those around her. In an earlier verse, it was noted that because of her taking such great care of her family her husband was well known in the city gates. Well the same is said for her here. Perhaps it is a case of others being able to “look” into her life and see all the riches, and I don’t just mean monetary, found there. The bible calls us, as believers, to be lights in a dark world; to show the world what living a life for Christ looks like. What sort of picture would we be if we act as if life is horrible for us? If we act as if our lives are lacking something, how can we show what an awesome savior we serve. As women, how can we point others to Christ if we act as though our lives are terrible? We can be women of excellence; everything we need in order to live like we are has been given to us. Remember earlier I noted that these verses are a picture of what her whole life looked like…if we were to look at what the total sum of all our days show what would we see? What would we need to change in order to be women of excellence? I don’t think that this great lady is someone we can never aspire to be but I do think that in order to exemplify some of her characteristics we must decide to let go of our self’s and put what we have into the family God has given to us.
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My Journey in Proverbs 31
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