I have to apologize. I haven't been blogging lately and I have no excuse. I just didn't feel that I had much to say. I realize that I may loose many followers that way but when you can't write, or even think for that matter, what are you to do? Several times I came on here but every time I tried to write, I had either nothing to say or too much to say. I don't know if any of you can relate cuz I'm kind of a misfit and do things quite differently than most, or at least I feel that I do.
I don't have a topic today. All I want to do is tell you what happened this morning. I'll throw it out there and see if any of you have any ideas.
Each morning I try to read my Bible. There is no certain order that I do it. Sometimes I'll read something that I'd been hearing about in church or sometimes I'll just open it up and start reading the titles and see if anything looks particularly interesting. Lately I've been reading in 1st Kings. It gets pretty interesting just to see how the Lord intervened back then in some of the battles and how He communicated with His people. I often wonder what it would be like to just hear Him speak, boldly and clearly, without any question about what He wants me to do. It would be so much easier wouldn't it? Especially in situations like what I'm about to tell you about.
I was reading this morning and I was at the top of the page reading about how a prophet came to Ahab, king of Israel and told him that the Lord was going to give into his hands a vast army' "..then you will know that I am the Lord". Well, as I'm reading along, trying to understand and see where this was all going, I saw out of the side of my line of vision or corner of my eye, a line of words down the page that was all highlighted in green. But when I looked down the page at that area, it wasn't highlighted. I felt pretty strange, figured I was imagining it so I then went back up to where I had been and started reading again. And again, out of my direct line of vision, kind of out of the corner of my eye, the same sentence or maybe I should say a couple lines of words, were highlighted in green. This kept happening but each time I'd stop reading and look down the page at the area that had appeared to be highlighted, it wasn't highlighted anymore. Okay, now I'm wondering what is going on. Am I imagining this every time? No, I couldn't be. It was too clear. Well, I'm a firm believer that when we read our Bibles we can't just read one scripture to get the full understanding. We need to at least read what is before and after a particular scripture to get a good understanding of what it is all saying. So instead of stopping what I was reading and going to the area that had appeared to be highlighted, I kept reading on until I got to that area. I don't even want to admit this....but then when I did read the words, they didn't make much sense. I read it again and again and I couldn't figure out what God may be trying to say to me. The scripture is 1st Kings, Chapter 20, verse 23, but the highlighted words started in the middle of the verse, ..."But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they."
I have never had this happen before so I can't figure out what this all means. It happened for a reason so I won't just dismiss it. It has to mean something! I'm not sure how to find out what this is about but I've been seeking God on it since it happened. I read it to my husband and he has no idea either what it can mean.
As I said before I try to read the Bible every day. I feel strongly that if we are to know God's voice we need to know Him first. The only way to do that, that I know of, is to seek Him continuously, read His word and pray for understanding and a closer relationship with Him. That I've done over and over and over and I will continue until He comes because I want nothing more than to be so close to Him that there is no mistaking His voice.
Now,..I'm asking those of you who know the Lord and His word if you would please take a look at this verse and what it is saying before and after this verse to see what you think this could be saying to me. I realize that without knowing me or my life and what is going on with me, it may be difficult to determine this. But, I'm going to ask anyway. Any ideas you may have are welcome and will be considered. I know many of you are very good at interpreting the Bible so I'm praying that I get some good ideas from you. In fact, if you feel that you want to respond in private, feel free to email me about your thoughts on this. My email address is blbrown@ridge-runner.com.
I look forward to hearing any thoughts you may have about this. Thanks and God Bless you all.
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8 comments:
As soon as you quoted that part of v23 I recognized it as the "reasoning" of the enemies of God and His people. They are convincing themselves that they can defeat God and His people based on this fallacious reasoning. What we usually miss here though is that God is delivering these people up to destruction and this line of reasoning is allowed by Him to draw them onto the slippery slope which will lead them to their eventual demise.
What we must take from this is that God is control and no matter how bad things look to us here, this is the wicked age before the age to come in which we will be united with our Lord forever.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
Hi Linda,
I believe the key to understanding what this means lies in the following verse:
Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys," therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.' "
(1 Kings 20:28 NKJV)
The idea here suggests that God's ability to protect and deliver His people from harms way is limited.
With that being said, is there something in your life that you are allowing to place such limitations on God's ability to meet your needs or deliver you from the hand of the enemy?
Is there something that is keeping you from exercising full trust in Him?
Are you falling for the baneful reasoning of the enemy who wants you to believe that God isn't omnipotent, or are you exercising perfect trust in Him in doing all that you know He wants you to do with your life?
I just started a series on Psalm 23 at The Bible Post. I think you will find it to be helpful.
Blessings to you...
Mike & Chris,
Thanks so much for your input. With both of your help, I see better where this scripture is going. I thought my level of faith in Him was good though. It's interesting. Yesterday is when this scripture was 'highlighted' and today my hubby got laid off. Although I'm not worried and feel strongly that everything will be fine, maybe I'm needing to re-examine something else here. I don't know what that would be but I will remain open to what God is trying to say and do. Thanks and God bless you both!
Hi Linda,
I am so sorry to hear that Your husband got laid off from work. :(
You know, another thing to think about is that the message of the verse might be for someone whom you know.
I am sure God will reveal these things to you in due time.
Blessings to you...
Hey Linda,
"The Israelites gods are the gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains." 1 kings 20:23
What Ben-hadad's officers didn't understand, was that God, not chariots, made the difference in battle.
Blessings!
Lori, Hey girl, how r things with you? Thanks for your view on this. I know that God makes the difference and always will win ALL the battles. It just doesnt always feel that way at the time. I'm sure you've had those days. Thanks for stopping in. God bless you,
Linda
hey. i think i hopped from bingkee's site. i read the bible these days too. it is a whole new experience for me because we haven't been taught at home about it. so i am starting just now, quite late but i am already appreciating it. it is great that you are sharing your reflections on the scriptures.
This is the "literal interpretation" from my Bible (NIV)
"god of the hills"--an expression of the pagan idea that a deity's power extended only over the limited area of his particular jurisdiction.
"that is why they are stronger than us"---The Aarameans believed that the outcome of military conflicts depended on the relative strength of the gods of the opposing forces rather than the inherent strength of the two armies. For this reason, their strategy was to fight the next battle in a way that advantageously maximized the supposed strengths and weaknesses of the deities involved.
I hope that helps that the literal translation may give you a deeper meaning of what really God is speaking to you.
God bless .
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