Multiplying Community

"Commit yourself to a multiplying community."  This is one of the five things I am working on over the next year.  Thankfully I am already a member of a great church, so for me this has meant really investing my time in my specific smaller group of twenty-somethings.  There are so many wonderful people in this group and I am excited to see all the things that have been going on that are growing us and bringing us closer to the Lord.  It was with this group that I initially started Radical.  Just a couple of things that I'm really excited about right now are our Wednesday night small groups and Secret Church.  We have gone from one Bible study to three small groups Bible studies on Wednesday nights, and speaking personally, the group I'm involved in is really challenging us to know and learn from God.  It's wonderful.  Secret Church just happened last night for the first time.  We met at a house with the intention of simply spending time exploring what God's word tells us about certain topics.  We studied for several hours and I walked away feeling blessed by the other people in this group who are committing themselves to the Lord.  It says a lot for someone when they will give up a Friday night to simply study the Bible.

So now, on to my reading and prayer. :)

Genesis 31:17-34 (brief overview!)
Jacob is ready to leave his father-in-law's land and return with his family and possession to the land of his father.  After twenty years, no less!  Jacob sneaks off, Laban pursues, but everything works out.  Then Jacob gets really nervous about going back and seeing his brother.  You know, Esau, the one he cheated out of everything.  So he sends word ahead that he is coming and also sends many gifts as well.  Esau welcomes him with open arms and their relationship is restored.  In the midst of all these happenings, Jacob is left alone one night and wrestles with a man who turns out to be God.  At the end of the wrestling match God changes Jacob's name to Israel.  How had I missed this before?  Israel- the 12 tribes, the wandering Israelites- was Jacob!  Somehow I'd never solidified that connection in my brain.

Matthew 10:26-11
Jesus is still instructing the 12 disciples.  He told them to have to fear- to bring light into the darkness and to proclaim from the rooftops the things they hear.  We have nothing to worry about because we belong to Him.  He knows every detail, down to the number of hairs on our heads.  (Which is constantly changing when it comes to my head.)  And right after telling them to not be afraid He says that He has come to bring a sword, and not peace.  That we will be set against our household because we are to love Him more than we love our families.  He says that when we lose our life, we will find it.
Then He travels to other cities and talks with the people about John the Baptist, judgement for the unrepentant and finally, the rest that can be found when we yoke ourselves to Him.

Psalm 13 & 14
13- The writer is obviously going through a period of trial and basically asking how long it's going to last.  But in the end he recognizes that God's love and salvation bring rejoicing.  "I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me." verse 6  I love vocabulary, and therefore love the word bountifully in that verse.  :)
14- "there is no one who does good. ...Oh, that salvation for Israel would come..." verse 1, 7

Proverbs 3:16-20
"She (wisdom) is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed." verse 18  The Lord has wisdom and knowledge, so I would think when we seek for them and gain them we are made more like Him.

Pray:
Timor Leste- Southeast Asia
This country is part of an island that is shared by Indonesia.