Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Acknowledge...It's Another Word for WHAT????
Proverbs 5:6,7 says to ACKNOWLEDGE God in all your ways, and He will direct your path.
If you look up the word ACKNOWLEDGE in the Hebrew -- believe me, I'm no Bible scholar, but I have a great book called The Complete Word Study Old Testament by a brilliant man named Zodhiates (I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Bible better). In that book, I find that the word "Acknowledge" in the original language the Old Testament was written in (Hebrew) means to "perceive, understand, acquire knowledge know, discern; be acquainted with a woman in a sexual way, be known...wait...WHAT? Acknowledge means to know something or someone so completely, the way you know someone you have been intimate with.
Now the other important phrase is "in all your ways". What does that mean? That word "ways" translates (again according to Zodhiates) to mean: "a going, walk, journey, way, path, road, mode, manner, course, way of life, lot in life...a passageway..."
So if you put it all together it says...be completely and fully and intimately aware of God working in your path, your journey, your trip through life...stay alert! Watch for Him as you move through your life, and He will direct you. He will put up stop signs and U turn signs and Warning signs if you stay awake...
Tough women can get lost sometimes. We can find ourselves down roads that don't make any sense for women like us. We look up from the scrambling around and find ourselves on a dark, dangerous road in a neighborhood where we don't belong.
"How did I get here?" we hear a familiar voice say in the darkness...
We followed a crooked path; we took a wrong turn, we followed the wrong guy, or we ran as fast as we could away from one without thinking about where we were going. However it happened, we know we're in trouble and there is no easy way out.
No easy way. But there is a way. It's a "One Step At a Time Sweet Jesus" way. He makes a way out of no way. But you're the one who has to look for the signs and stay plugged in...
If you look up the word ACKNOWLEDGE in the Hebrew -- believe me, I'm no Bible scholar, but I have a great book called The Complete Word Study Old Testament by a brilliant man named Zodhiates (I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Bible better). In that book, I find that the word "Acknowledge" in the original language the Old Testament was written in (Hebrew) means to "perceive, understand, acquire knowledge know, discern; be acquainted with a woman in a sexual way, be known...wait...WHAT? Acknowledge means to know something or someone so completely, the way you know someone you have been intimate with.
Now the other important phrase is "in all your ways". What does that mean? That word "ways" translates (again according to Zodhiates) to mean: "a going, walk, journey, way, path, road, mode, manner, course, way of life, lot in life...a passageway..."
So if you put it all together it says...be completely and fully and intimately aware of God working in your path, your journey, your trip through life...stay alert! Watch for Him as you move through your life, and He will direct you. He will put up stop signs and U turn signs and Warning signs if you stay awake...
Tough women can get lost sometimes. We can find ourselves down roads that don't make any sense for women like us. We look up from the scrambling around and find ourselves on a dark, dangerous road in a neighborhood where we don't belong.
"How did I get here?" we hear a familiar voice say in the darkness...
We followed a crooked path; we took a wrong turn, we followed the wrong guy, or we ran as fast as we could away from one without thinking about where we were going. However it happened, we know we're in trouble and there is no easy way out.
No easy way. But there is a way. It's a "One Step At a Time Sweet Jesus" way. He makes a way out of no way. But you're the one who has to look for the signs and stay plugged in...
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Tough Women Have Fears
Tough Women have a common characteristic: We are often afraid and insecure. Wouldn't everyone else be surprised to learn that the tough exterior we exhibit was a shell of fear? "You're so brave," they say. "You're so resilient." We boast that we are able to do everything faster and better than everyone else. But inside, well, you know. In our private moments, we are not that way at all.
What do tough women fear? We fear not being in control because, if we are not in control, then someone else is -- and that person is not going to look out for our best interests. We don't trust anyone else to do the job we can do, to the extent that we can do it, with the quality we can -- and ultimately, we reason, it will harm us in some way to let someone else do it for us.
This brings us to God. Do we -- as believers in God -- at least trust Him to handle things?
Quite honestly, most of my life, I have not trusted God to do the job. I would much rather do it myself. I have said I trusted God. I have even said it to Him in prayer, "Oh God, I trust You!", but no sooner have I said that then I have had the opportunity to show Him that I did not. Here's what I don't trust about God: He won't do it my way. He won't give me what I want, in the way I want it, and to the degree that I want it.
Here is what I have learned in these past 5 decades of life: God always does it better.
I know it sounds trite. "Put your faith in God and He will take care of everything."
"Well," you ask, "Where does that leave me?" And the question hangs in the air: "What will I do with myself if I leave it all to God? What does my life of surrender look like?
Proverbs 5, verses 6 and 7 say: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him...and He will direct your path!
It's my favorite verse. I say it out loud every morning before my feet hit the floor. I try to envision how I can acknowledge Him in everything I will do.
Let's acknowledge God in everything today and see where HE takes us, for a change...
What do tough women fear? We fear not being in control because, if we are not in control, then someone else is -- and that person is not going to look out for our best interests. We don't trust anyone else to do the job we can do, to the extent that we can do it, with the quality we can -- and ultimately, we reason, it will harm us in some way to let someone else do it for us.
This brings us to God. Do we -- as believers in God -- at least trust Him to handle things?
Quite honestly, most of my life, I have not trusted God to do the job. I would much rather do it myself. I have said I trusted God. I have even said it to Him in prayer, "Oh God, I trust You!", but no sooner have I said that then I have had the opportunity to show Him that I did not. Here's what I don't trust about God: He won't do it my way. He won't give me what I want, in the way I want it, and to the degree that I want it.
Here is what I have learned in these past 5 decades of life: God always does it better.
I know it sounds trite. "Put your faith in God and He will take care of everything."
"Well," you ask, "Where does that leave me?" And the question hangs in the air: "What will I do with myself if I leave it all to God? What does my life of surrender look like?
Proverbs 5, verses 6 and 7 say: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him...and He will direct your path!
It's my favorite verse. I say it out loud every morning before my feet hit the floor. I try to envision how I can acknowledge Him in everything I will do.
Let's acknowledge God in everything today and see where HE takes us, for a change...
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