Falling In Love With God

On Wednesday nights, I am involved in a women's Bible study that is simply wonderful.  The girls who attend come with the purpose of going deep into the Word and learning more and more about our God.  Recently we have been talking about the subject of falling in love with God.  What we are working on this week is really practicing the presence of God.  How do we do that?  It begins with Scripture!  Spending time reading the Word, praying the Word, meditating on the Word, letting it lead you into worship.  And we must be willing to wait on the Lord... we have to devote time to this process.  So, join me, and get in the presence of God!

Psalm 60
David is writing today about a time when the Lord did not seem to be fighting for them.  They felt rejected.  And David knew that the only way they would have success was by the will of the Lord when He fought for them.  David is asking for help.

Proverbs 23:15-16
When a son is wise and speaks what is right, it makes his father glad.  The verse says the father's "inmost being will exult,"but the foot note says that another translation of that might be "my kidneys."  :)

Isaiah 22-24
Isaiah speaks about Jerusalem today.  I do not always understand quite what he is trying to say.  There is definitely destructive language in the first part of this speech, but then it says that Eliakim will be given much authority in Jerusalem and that he will be like a secure peg where much honor is hung.  Then it says that the peg will give way and be cut down and all it holds will fall.  He also speaks about Tyre and then the whole earth, neither of which have a very good outlook.  I am wondering what the resolution of this book will be.  So far, there has been a very bleak outlook for everyone.

Galatians 2:17-3:9
Paul is continuing with the theme of being saved by faith, not works.  Specifically he is saying that we are not saved by the law.  If it were the law that brought righteousness, Jesus' death was for nothing... but that is not the case.  All are able to receive salvation through faith!

Israel
It is likely that Israel now has the largest Jewish population in the world, which was not so until recently.  Pray that Jews would come to understand the gospel as the fulfillment of their heritage.  The many different people groups in Israel have different feelings about seeing Jesus as the Messiah.  Some are from other religions, and some do not engage in religion.  There are still 8 million Jews dispersed around the world.  Most are in the US.  Pray that they would come to know Christ and ministry to them would be effective.