Saturday, January 26, 2013

Do you flee to God or the other way?

Beth Moore gave her blogging community a homework assignment.

Go to her blog to see the full assignment (Beth Moore Living Proof Ministries.)

The gist of her assignment was to look at three different versions of Isaiah 30:15-18
choose the one that spoke to you the most
look up the work "threat" in the dictionary and state what is a threat in your life in this season
describe what the word fleeing looks like to you
compare 1Peter 5:8-10 and James 4:7 to the Isaiah scripture
And then write about it in the comments of her blog.

First, I love looking at different bible versions of the same scripture.  I get so much insight in to what God is conveying to us as believers of His Word.  And I love words...so defining words and comparing them to my life or scripture gets me excited!

So here is my version of the assignment:


NLT, MSG, AMP (the three versions I compared)
Isaiah 30:15-18 AMP (the one I chose that spoke to me the most)
 15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. But you would not,16 And you said, No! We will speed [our own course] on horses! Therefore you will speed [in flight from your enemies]! You said, We will ride upon swift steeds [doing our own way]! Therefore will they who pursue you be swift, [so swift that]17 One thousand of you will flee at the threat of one of them; at the threat of five you will flee till you are left like a beacon or a flagpole on the top of a mountain, and like a signal on a hill.18 And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!

Threat:  an expression of intention to inflict evil, injury, or damage (http://www.merriam-webster.com)
I know that I have experienced much in my life, many hurts, many poor choices, many traumas which now I see and hold on to as a gift.  My story is God’s gift so that I can be an instrument for Him.  At this season of my life as others are beginning to see the restored me, I feel the threat of not “feeling good enough”, believing I have wasted too much time and I can’t minister to others, and retreating to the quietness of my home instead of engaging in fellowship with others. The threat is in the damage to my Christ given identity.  The treat is the voice of the enemy that I combat each day.  The threat is in the “hurry up if you don’t do something you wasted your life” voice I hear.
Fleeing:  In my life fleeing has two looks for me:  One is to retreat to the four walls of my home and not engage in the world.  The other is to try to move things along in a hurried way so that I feel as if I did try, but failed…failed because I went ahead or beyond what I was suppose to do.  I give up, let go, forget the idea, create my own plan…the list goes on.
The insight that God gave me through this exercise is that in everyone’s life the threat of the enemy is there.  The threat looks different to different people.  For one it may be a person, to another being held captive by their past, for another fear of being exposed, another food or alcohol issues, poor decisions, traumas, etc.  The threat “damages” the path that God has for us.  The “threat” damages our identity, our value and our worth.
The “threat” can make us flee from God’s plan or we can press in to God and trust His plan. We can flee from our purpose or we can flee to God and know that His love, His hope, His path is the safe place.  Sometimes we flee back to the thing we are most comfortable in…which can be the destructive, hurt of our past…why not…it is what we know best.  And this is where the choice has to be made.  Because as James 4:7 says we must “humble ourselves before God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  God restores, redeems, and rescues.  I know.  I have been redeemed from the death grip of the enemy.  But I also know how easy it is to feel the “threat” of the enemy and “flee” back to my own way instead of first fleeing in to the arms of Jesus. 

If you would like to do this on my blog or add to Beth's that would be so fun!  Beth had us write it on a word document first and then copy and paste.

Or if you just want to tell me what is a "threat" in your life right now or something you are "fleeing" from, I would love to hear and pray for you.

Love you all,
Blessings,
Teresa

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