Thursday, December 11, 2014

Transparent Thursday

I haven't written in a few weeks. 

First Thanksgiving came, and then I simply skipped a week. Writing has been put on a back burner lately. Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed with things that I feel Him layingo n my heart, that I have a hard time separating it all and writing a concise thought. 

Writing is a love and passion that God gave me and it's something that I have always enjoyed. It's also something that I has been used very heavily against me, and as many of my faithful followers will already know, I have suffered greatly with caring far too much with what people say about me. When I come against persecution, I tend to cower away. 

This is something God is fervently working on in my life. 

He's working on so much, refining so much, there are days that I feel like I have whiplash from the constant turning of my head that He seems to do. My head often aches from the proufound lessons He teaches; the intense love He pours over my life. 

This week I want to be honest about the fact that as much as I love God, I love Jesus, I have never read through the Holy Bible. Not one time. 

Honestly, it's seemed very boring to me at times; most of the time. Well, the Old Testament really. The New Testament, that has always been rich to me, while at the same time seemed to be filled with the reminder that I was not good enough. 

A few months ago, around September, God laid heavily on my heart that He wanted me to stop fighting His Word, His statutes, and open up my Bible. He wanted me to saturate myself in the truth that is HIM instead of running from it. 

I wasn't sure I could do it. At first it seemed like an overbearing task and one that I wasn't cut out for. 

But, the more that I read, the more that I fell in love with God. I fell in love with the stories, the rules, the commandments. Yes, even the ones that I could never begin to keep.

Why? Because it has showed me how deeply we, as a world, has always needed Jesus. Every page points to this Savior that saved my life. 

Saved the entire wolrd. 

Each page shows me how intensely people fail, how greatly we break the laws and commandments God set forh, and how fiercly He loves us. 

I am so thankful that I have opened up my Bible and started reading each and every page. I am so thankful to have finally, after years of thinking there were no truths in it for a girl like me, that I have opened up the pages of this proufound book and allowed it to begin saturating my life. 

There are really, really difficult stories to read. There are moments when my heart breaks for people, sinners, who fail so miserably. And each time it just reminds me how badly I have failed in my own life and how desperately I have needed Jesus each and every day. 

Reading the Bible is difficult. It's time consuming. It's not something you can't just decide to do and be done in a few weeks. It's a task. It's a profoundly difficult task. But it's one of the most rewarding tasks I have embarked on thus far in my journey as a Christian. 

I encourage you sweet friend, if you have never read through the Bible, try it! Pray, ask Him to reveal Himself through the pages, and begin reading. Read commentary. Seek advice. Reach out and admit that you have never read the Bible and ask for a little direction. You will not regret your decision! 

I have not regretted a moment of my time in the Word. I love waiking early to read. I love writing in my journal all the truths He is teaching. I simply love the Word of God. 

Open your Bible, friend, and start the incredible journey to knowing the deep and abounding love of the God of the Universe.