Bible

Words By Roxanna ~ God Speaks Through the Bible

10:30 AM


Fyodor was a wild young man. His life revolved around eating, drinking, talking, music, theatre and the company of women. He dreamt of fame. He was caught up in a movement for political and social reform in Russia during the repressive reign of Tsar Nicholas I. He was arrested, tried and condemned initially to be executed.
On a bitterly cold morning, the prisoners were taken out to be shot. The prison guards raised their muskets to their shoulders and took aim. At the last moment, a white flag was raised to announce that the Tsar had commuted their sentence to life imprisonment in Siberia.
On his arrival in Siberia on Christmas Eve 1849, at the age of twenty-eight, two women slipped him a New Testament. When the guard turned away momentarily, they suggested he should search the pages thoroughly. He did.
While in prison, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the great Russian novelist, read the New Testament from cover to cover and learnt much of it by heart. He wrote, ‘I believe that there is no one lovelier, deeper, more sympathetic and more perfect than Jesus. I say to myself with jealous love not only is there no one else like him, but there never could be anyone like him.’ It was through the Bible that he had encountered Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul describes all Scripture as ‘God-breathed’ (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is not just inspired in the way that artists, poets, composers and musical performers can be said to be inspired. It actually has God’s breath, his Spirit, in it. The Bible is one of the main ways in which God speaks to us.
 
 Blessings,
Roxanna

Bible

Delight in His Love - Song of Songs 1-4

9:00 PM



While doing a bit of research I learned that Solomon composed some 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and this was the greatest among them: “Song of Songs”. 

Many different interpretive approaches have been used in understanding this great song. It seems that Bible translators cannot even agree on a name for the book. Some call it “Song of Solomon,” some “Song of Songs,” some even use the Latin word for songs, calling it “Canticles.” (Enduringword.com)

-The early Jewish rabbis taught that Song of Songs pictures God’s love for Israel. 
- M. Henry wrote: “This book is a Divine allegory, which represents the love between Christ and his church of true believers, under figures taken from the relation and affection that subsist between a bridegroom and his espoused bride; an emblem often employed in Scripture, as describing the nearest, firmest, and most sure relation”   “There is no character in the church of Christ, and no situation in which the believer is placed, but what may be traced in this book, as humble inquirers will find, on comparing it with other Scriptures, by the assistance of God the Holy Spirit, in answer to their supplications. Much, however, of the language has been misunderstood by expositors and translators.”
I remember when I surrendered my life to Jesus I did not even want to date. I was SO IN LOVE with God that nothing else mattered! He was my EVERYTHING, from the first day of His calling: 
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,” (2:10, 13)

I felt deep inside of me: “My beloved is mine, and I am his;” (2:16)


Three months before this day, I had been on a date with a young man (whom now is my husband), and although he seemed very interested I really wasn’t. Later on when I surrendered my life to Jesus, this man showed up again and he insisted that he cared for me and wanted to get to know me better, for he intended something serious (formal).  I had to tell him that I was not going to date him anymore for I was IN LOVE! Yes, I was deeply in love with Jesus!! I was on my last year in the University and working part time, and my free time was His! But this man wanted to know more about this “new love of mine”, so I witnessed to him. He continued calling and we began to see each other to chat about Jesus and study God’s Word; then we ended up going to Church and as months went by we were engaged! It was God’s love growing in us and among us!! We married and we offered our lives and of our future children to Him. In our 34+ years of marriage there have been great challenges, but let me tell you His Love and Faithfulness have been greater!
“Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love],
While our vineyards are in blossom.” (2:15)

Yes, we will face trials in our Christian walk, but He promised to be with us!  “If you have any sign of spiritual life, if you have any tender grapes upon your branches, the devil and his foxes will be sure to be at you; therefore, endeavor to get as close as ever you can to two persons who are mentioned hard by my text, namely, the King and his spouse. First, keep close to Christ for this is your life; and next, keep close to his Church, for this is your comfort.” (Spurgeon)
It has been through God’s Amazing Grace, Love and Faithfulness that our Family is walking with Him and we pray our children’s children will, too! As Christians we are now part of His Church: His Bride ( Matthew 9:15; 25:1; see also Revelation 21:2,9; Ephesians 5:27).
So let me encourage you to take a step of faith to His calling, to pour your love out to Him and place your life and the lives of your family on the Altar and delight in Him!!
“O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.9 O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.” (Psalm 34:8-9)

 “But to hear Christ turn round upon his Church, and seem to say to her ‘Thou hast praised me, I will praise thee; thou thinkest much of me, I think quite as much of thee; thou usest great expressions to me, I will use just the same to thee. Thou sayest my love is better than wine, so is thine to me; thou tellest me all my garments smell of myrrh, so do thine; thou sayest my word is sweeter than honey to thy lips, so is thine to mine. All that thou canst say of me, I say it teach to thee; I see myself in thy eyes, I can see my own beauty in thee; and whatever belongs to me, belongs to thee. Therefore, O my love, I will sing back the song: thou hast sung it to thy beloved, and I will sing it to my beloved.'” (Spurgeon)
Yes, let us delight in our God, for He is Worthy!!

Mari

Angie Benjamin

When life gets blurry, adjust your focus!! {Psalms 102:1-104:35}

2:56 AM



Today's reading is simply beautiful,

In Psalm 102, We see David being overwhelmed by trouble and pouring our his heart and problems before the Lord.

We've all been there. Moments of deep pain and despair, in which we don't even care about the basics needs such as eating.

Moments in which the heartache is so bad that we begin to feel rejected by God Himself. We start wondering, where is He?...

But our beautiful God and creator is eternally with us and will keep all of his promises, even though we may feel alone.

The word of God says that this world (and its problems) will perish, but God and His love for us will remain.

In those times of need God alone can be our comfort and our strength. It is beautiful to know that even when we are too weak to fight, we can trust and lean on Him.

I believe it is when we recognise and acknowledge our shortcomings and weaknesses that God's great power becomes available.

Only when we realise that we have come to the end of ourselves we allow God's power to manifest in our lives and in our situations.

So what to do when everything seems so dark and gloomy?

PRAISE




In Psalm 103, David praise focuses on the things God had done and was still doing for him.

I think this is key. Telling our soul and redirecting our thoughts to the goodness of God. Remembering the good things that He has done and remembering how far He has taken us from.

It is very easy to complain about life. After all, our world seems to be upside down...but David reminds us that there are far many more things to be grateful for and to praise God for, such as:


  • He forgives our sins.
  • Heals our diseases.
  • Redeems us from death!
  • Crowns us with the love and compassion.
  • Satisfies our desires.
  • Gives us righteousness and justice.


And the best of all? We receive all these without deserving any of them!

We can go through life resting assured that regardless where we are in our life's journey, we can count our past, present and even future blessings!

So when things are not going quite right and you're feeling down, please go back to David's list.

Train your thoughts to focus and redirect your attention to PRAISE!

So as a photographer, I've learnt a very important lesson in life...









Angie Benjamin

Homemade Worship {Judges 17:1-21:25}

3:39 AM




Today's reading in Judges 17:1-21:25 is a picture of how idolatry (wrong believes) will always lead to sin and immorality (wrong behavior)

The story starts with a son, Micah from Ephraim, stealing 1,100 shekels from his own mother. He returns the money to her and she's so delighted that she uses it to make and idol which she gives to Micah for the private altar he has set up in his home.

The sin starts with a man who steals money from his mother, then it is carried over to a Levite who becomes a private chaplain, first to a family  and then to a whole tribe- without any proper appointment nor authorisation. 

Well, it seems that time has not changed human nature, wouldn't you agree? Today we can see, just as in Micah's days, everyone putting her/his own interest first. People in our society still reject God's right ways of living.

What is your idol? An idol is anything that takes God's place in a person's life...call it pursuit of money, success, possessions, career, spouse, children...and the list goes on.

People in Micah's days, replaced true worship with some kind of "homemade" version of it. They even got to the extent of stop supporting the priests and levites with their tithes they were no longer worshipping God.

The result of this? Justice was replaced by revenge and chaos. Ignoring God's direction will always lead  to confusion and destruction



When  men from Dan took Micah's idols and priest (Judges 18:24) , nothing remained!! this becomes a powerful truth in our lives! We invest so much energy into pursuing money, success, possessions, or a career, that if these "idols" are taken away, only an empty shell will remain!.




The only way we can protect ourselves against such loss is to invest our lives in God, whom we can never lose!

The moment we get away from God and his word, all sorts of evil can follow, we drift away slowly and almost imperceptibly, with the ultimate consequences affecting our future generations.

Our mission while we're on earth is to continuously call our nations back to God and work to establish God's spiritual kingdom in the heart of every person, amen!

Have a blessed weekend sisters,

Angie