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| THE REAL KEY |
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Alright Son, so you want to live a long and peaceful life? Then don’t forget the things I’ve been teaching you. The simple rules. Don’t be like a fool who lets good advice go in one ear and out the other. Don’t just write them down on a scrap of paper and then lose the paper! Write them on your heart.
Do you remember when you were little, and you kept your house key on a special chain you wore around your kneck? When you got home, you could always open the door. God’s truth is like that key. Keep it close, over your heart, and you’ll never be locked out.
Never, ever, stop being kind or truthful. That’s the way to keep a good reputation. It pleases the Lord and it gains you favor with anybody else that really matters.
Now here’s the thing about trustin the Lord. That trust has got to come from the heart! You can’t do it half-way. You either trust Him totally, or you don’t. It’s your starting point. It makes you who you are, and it colors everything else about you.
Give up trying to figure everything out on your own. It’s never going to happen anyway. Just live your life so that everything you do points back to Him, and He’ll show you a path to walk that’s straight and level.
A lot of people think they know it all. They think they have all the answers. They’re never wrong. Just ask them! Don’t be like that. If you’re wrong, own up to it. and if you don’t know, don’t bluff.
You’ll keep your head and your heart straight if you just keep your eyes on the Lord. You see, compared to Him, we all fall so far short that it’s scarey. He is so totally pure and loving and powerful and full of wisdom…It’s impossible to really wrap our minds around it.
Son, the world is full of people who have opinions about God. A few even set themselves up as experts of some sort. And a lot of other folks spend their entire lives running from one “expert” to another trying to figure out the real truth. In the end, though, they usually wind up settling on something that just “fits”. Kinda like picking out a comfortable sweater or a new pair of sneakers. I guess that’s fine if you want to simply make up a god that suits your tastes.
There is another way, though. Stop trying to know all about God and finally just get to know God. Spend time with Him. He really is there. And He’s a person. And He wants to be close to us. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. It can be the most important thing in your life.
I know it’s not easy. Getting to know someone never is. And this is GOD we’re talking about! I mean, if it’s intimidating to walk across the street to meet a new neighbor, the idea of actually getting to know GOD is absolutely terrifying! But you already know that Jesus made it possible, right?
So where do you start? I guess we come full circle back to trust. Sure, God is HUGE! And He’s holy. And He’s powerful. And He’s pure. And He’s the standard for good and truth and beauty and love against which everything else is judged. And we’re not! But like I said, He WANTS to be close to us. Mind boggling as it is, His desire is for us!
The first time I was really with Him, close like I sit and talk with you, it was so intense I almost ran away. I think it helped me understand those people in the bible who kept saying, “No way, Moses, He’s too scarey. You go talk to Him.” I knew He was there. Right there in that place with me. And in me. And all around me. I knew. Not just with my mind, but with my everything. I felt like I was covered inside and out with liquid light and fire and electricity all at the same time. And I could feel His love and I could actually hear him somewhere inside me. It didn’t hurt, but still, all that light and love and power and pure was too much for who i was. My knees literally buckled under the weight of it. All I could do was be there, in Him, knowing that I’d never be the same. I wanted to run away, and I wanted to stay there just like that forever. It was terrifying, but good beyond anything I can begin to describe. It’s still too much for who i am. But having experienced being with Him in that way, I can’t go back to just knowing about Him.
I think this is a bit of what the bible’s writers meant by ”the fear of the Lord”. And it’s a good place. For everyone. Because, if this is where we always begin, and where we always return, then we should have no problem recognizing evil and wrong and turning away from them.
Of course people are still going to do bad things, and make wrong and selfish and destructive choices. And sometimes, just being a part of the world and living life will get us “slimed”. But if we continue to come back to Him, to be with Him and know Him more and more deeply, then being with Him will clean us up and heal us and change us and make us fresh and strong. And more and more, we’ll come to be like Him.
When it comes right down to it, Son, that’s what He wants for you. The best! To be like Him! And that’s what I want for you too. I love you.
We’ll talk more later.
3:1 My son, forget not my law; But let thy heart keep my commandments: 3:2 For length of days, and years of life, And peace, will they add to thee. 3:3 Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart: 3:4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding In the sight of God and man. 3:5 Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding: 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths. 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes; Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil: 3:8 It will be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones.
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Mandie |
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September 14, 2007 at 3:23pm |
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| wow another good post :) |
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| Thanks. I've been stuck in Proverbs as part of my devotional cycle, and so much of it is set as advice from parent to child. I've got a son, 6 yrs old, and I remember a teacher once telling me "If you can't explain it so a child can understand, you don't really understand it yourself." So I'm beginning to work on these "talks" with my boy...Don't know where they'll go, but..."we'll talk more later." ;) |
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