learntowalkworthy

This week has been a very busy one as Andrew and I prepare to transition to Guatemala for a month for language training.   This week has been one of wrestling through this idea of what it means to love, and more than that, what is a biblical definition of hate? 1 John 1 contrasts light and dark, as well as love and hate.   vv. 9-11 read, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.   Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.   But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” God has been teaching me a lot about His love for a couple years now.   These instructions have come through the picture of a shepherd affectionately caring for, and intimately knowing his sheep.   They have come through sun shadow hearts on trees, and recognizing more...

This week was a bit of a blur, as Andrew and I had friends visiting on a vision trip.   I kept up pretty consistently with reading and studying, but have felt the weariness in my heart that comes after a long week of sleep deprivation and lack of consistency in all areas. So, this week I didn’t really have anything new and fresh from 1 John.   On Saturday night, I drug out my Sunday School materials because I was slotted to teach, and begrudgingly began reading the lesson and preparing to teach the CMA Chapel kids. That is what I want to share with you (Ironically, there was a mix-up in communication and I didn’t even end up teaching, HA!   God has a sense of humor). So, the lesson walked through Numbers 13-14, and was about the twelve spies who went into the Promised Land.   If you grew up in church, you know this story.   10 said “No”, two said, “Go, giant grapes… all of that.   As I prepared, I thought about the typical angle taken wh...

This week, I feel like what I have to share is very odd, but I hope that I can communicate it in a way that you can understand and maybe ponder a little. You all know, because I have said it approximately 435 times, but I am reading 1 John right now.   J   In fact, I went back to the beginning to work through it a second time with a friend and I have really been enjoying starting back over, sitting in the same short passages… but finding new things I missed the first time.   The Spirit does not waste time in the Word of God. I promise, I will circle back to that, but first, I have to explain where this analogy first came from.  Back when I was reading through the Bible, I was sitting in the prophet books.   Specifically, I am talking about Isaiah (ch. 6), Ezekiel (ch. 1), and then finally Revelation (ch. 4), where each of the authors (Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John the Apostle) process these “throne room scene” experiences.   In these ...

This week, God had a theme of treasure for me to unpack.   Does he ever do that with you?   You read a book, He communicates an idea that encourages your heart.   But then you forget it 10 minutes later.   You go out for coffee with a friend, and the same idea is uttered in their spirit led heart.   “Do you hear me, daughter?”   You turn on the radio, and it’s there too.   “I really want you to get this.” You open your Bible, and every verse, even if you are in some obscure book, relays the same concept.   “LISTEN TO ME!” He does this often with me, and even when I was not faithfully in the Word, He would find such obscure ways to speak to me.   That’s been my week. So, in the study on 1 John, I was digging into the word “Abide”.   Go figure, right?   John really runs with that idea, which probably stemmed from Jesus as the vine, telling us to abide in Him.   What the heck does that mean, though?   According t...