Day 3 - Chapter 3

I love God’s sense of Humor!! Yesterday I wanted more - today there was so much to be taken in I thought, this chapter could be a 2 day process!!!!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!!!

The first topic of choice would be vs. 3, love and loyalty. “Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty, Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.” (Vs 3 Message) Showing our love for God can be done in many ways, learning and understanding his word is a great way to start. Becoming Mrs. Loyal seems to be the tricky part. When I read about Lady Loyal the thoughts that spin through my mind are, ‘commitment, honor, change, our actions.” Looking at Christianity overall we have become an un-loyal group of followers, not everyone but a sad percentage. We say we love God but then choose to only follow half the time, we MUST be sold out in EVERY aspect of life, which will require the sacrifice of ‘worldly things’ because in the end do the things of the world really fulfill our hearts - NOPE. Vs.35 (message) “Wise living gets rewarded with honor; stupid living gets the booby prize.”

My second topic of choice that was clear in the chapter tends to be a touchy one but with extremely high value in our lives and our walk with the Lord- tithe. Vs. 9 (NIV) “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with your first fruits of all your crops.” Vs 9 (message) “Honor God with everything you own, give him the first and the best.” I am not sure why this topic is such a touchy, sensitive topic, but it really bothers me that is has become one. Tithing IS a part of worship and God directs us to give our ‘first - the best’ to Him before anyone or anything else. I have recently grown into my tithing experience, I have always tithed because it’s biblical but I have found the true excitement behind tithe - I look forward to tithing because I have experienced the many blessing that come from being faithful. Malachi 3:10 “10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

My third topic of choice is vs. 5-12, I won’t type it all out but this to me is what it is saying. We need to trust God with 100% of our life, in EVERY situation, and NOT ‘figure everything out on our own’ (vs. 5). This is extremely hard to do but I can honestly say that when we completely let go of our own grip, the journey is much easier to cope with. I love how the message says, Vs. 7b “Run to God!” with a big exclamation point. We tend to run to everyone else first… but we must first Run to God, give it to Him and KNOW that he always has the best outcome for us. This section ends with us being reminded that God teaches us in tough times, those times that we tend to feel like he isn’t there - He is! And we need to open our eyes and see what he is trying to show us. He instructs us for our own good.

The next few verses that made a big impact in my heart were verses 21-2 (message)
21-26 Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;
don't for a minute lose sight of them.
They'll keep your soul alive and well,
they'll keep you fit and attractive.
You'll travel safely,
you'll neither tire nor trip.
You'll take afternoon naps without a worry,
you'll enjoy a good night's sleep.
No need to panic over alarms or surprises,
or predictions that doomsday's just around the corner,
Because God will be right there with you;
he'll keep you safe and sound.

I hope that after these 31 days you will experience a new freedom and joy - a direct result from spending quality time with God everyday! Ending, “Because God will be right there with you; he’ll keep you safe and sound.” He walks with us through everything, he never leaves us - we just don’t look for Him. It is our responsibility and blessed opportunity to seek Him in everything, because when we do…we will find Him!