Well, today is the last day of 2012. I feel like I should probably write a blog post or something to mark the occasion, so here you go.
A couple verses have really stuck out for me during the last few days of randomly roaming around the Bible. I guess you could say that I'm going to make them my theme verses for 2013. I know it sounds slightly cheesy, but these verses seem important to me and I really want to apply these ones specifically in my life.
Mark 4:12 - "'They may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
The context of this verse is that Jesus is talking to his disciples about the parable he just spoke - you know, the one about the sower whose seeds fell: some on the path, some on the rocky soil, some on the thorny soil, and some on the good soil. He's referring to how the Pharisees and "those on the outside" (v. 11) treat the parable and the secret to the Kingdom of Heaven.
But the meaning of the parable isn't really what I'm trying to get at here. How often do we do exactly what this verse is describing? Whether it's reading the Word, listening to a sermon, or seeing God's creation, I know I'm guilty of it. I just usually don't really make the effort to understand the deeper meanings of what the Scripture or pastor or whatever is trying to tell me. I don't know, maybe I'm getting the meaning of this passage all mixed up. However, I do know I need to stop just seeing and hearing, but also perceiving and understanding.
Jeremiah 10:23 - "LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps."
This one is kind of a punch in the gut for me and many other people. I'm pretty sure the next year is going to hold a lot of decisions for me, what with thinking about where I'm going to get a job, what colleges I might apply to, and all the other stuff that comes with getting older. I gotta keep this verse in my heart so that when I realize I'm trying to decide things by myself, I remember to give God the steering wheel.
Jeremiah 49:38-39 - "I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials, yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come."
Okay. So this past year I've been digging around in the Old Testament - specifically, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, bits and pieces of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, and Daniel. I just can't help but wonder why Israel is so dense. I mean, here's God, delivering you from Egypt, Bablyon, and countless other empires. Then you just turn around and worship meaningless gods! Why?! It's really just unbelievable for me. They serve as an example so that we will not follow in their footsteps, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthans 10.
I think this verse is a good reminder for me because, even though things in our lives usually aren't as extreme as losing a kingdom, when God takes away things, it is for a reason. Kind of like Job's story. Let's face the trials in life head-on and know that God will restore us someday.
And this last one doesn't really apply to me (although it is important to know), but I think this will be an encouragement for many:
Luke 18:29-30 - "No one who has left home or wife or brothers and sisters or parents or children for the sake of God will fail to receive many times as mcuh in this age, and in the age to come eternal life."
Alright, that's all I've got today. Have a very Happy New Year and may God bless you in 2013 and many more years to come! Thanks for reading! : )
I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! My family definitely did. We spent a few days down in Oregon with our grandparents and cousins on my dad's side of the family, then came back for Christmas Day and spent the afternoon and evening with my mom's side of the family.
On Christmas Eve night, I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I was thinking about how long ago Jesus came - how God had seemed to disappear from them for four hundred years, and how it's been two thousand more years since then. Somehow I realized that, since Jesus was born in 4 BC and I was born in AD 1996, we were born almost exactly 2000 years apart. How cool is that?
Anyways, I just thought that might be interesting to somebody other than me.
So. It's that time of year - the week between Christmas and New Years. I'm cleaning up my room, Jaci and my mom are going shopping for the day-after- Christmas sales, and we're putting away Christmas presents. Basically, we're preparing for 2013.
And something I've been reading in lately is 1 John. I'd never really read the whole thing through before, and I have found it to really be a challenging book for me.
Especially the passage that really keeps catching my attention, which is 1 John 4:19-21 - "We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."
See the text that I put in bold font? That's the part that really gets me every time I read this passage. Almost as if I'm in a boxing match and my opponent gives me a good blow in the stomach. Fortunately, it isn't a blow I can't recover from.
Not just myself, but I pray that all of my brothers and sisters have the strength and humility to love each other so that we can, in turn, love God this next year and all the rest of our lives.
And I hope that Jesus had a very happy birthday! Thanks for reading!
It's finally Christmas vacation! So happy. I'm officially off of school for two weeks and three weekends.
I've been, like, extremely busy. No wonder I haven't posted in more than a month.
I got my drivers license on November 15th. It was exciting at the time, but I've actually only driven by myself a few times. I'm not planning to drive myself to school most of the time, but I run errands or drive my sister somewhere or go to the library to print things. Oh, and Christmas shopping. Plenty of that, of course.
Between then and now, we took what I think was definitely the trip of a lifetime. That, however, will require a seperate post. So, stay tuned for coming attractions.
After our trip, we had school for three weeks. I missed two big tests and a Spanish vocabulary test, along with a creative writing assignment (I'm really bad at those) and plenty of make-up work in biology.
Jet lag is no fun, let me just say. Since the time difference from Rome to Seattle is about nine hours, just about everyone was up and at it by two or three in the morning every day for the first week. But I was dead tired by eight at night. On Saturday I was out late so I was finally waking up atsix in the morning like a normal person. Then I got sick and slept a lot. I was so sleep-deprived, going to bed at ten and waking up at three. I guess five hours of sleep a night is not enough.
Now that I'm all caught up, I have almost no homework over the break! yay!
My Christmas shopping is all done, and I'm sitting on a chair by the warm hearth, about to play Monopoly with my family and my grandparents. Tomorrow we will be joined by some more family and have "Clark Christmas" on Monday.
Whoohoo. Now that you're all caught up on what I've been doing lately, go and have some hot cider or spice tea and do something fun!
Merry Christmas!