requirements

The Lord has already told you what is good,

& this is what He requires:

     to do what is right,

     to love mercy,

     & to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8



The longer I live, the more I believe what it means to be a Christ follower can be boiled down to a very few things.

side-tracked

Words I've been carrying inside me since the beginning of 2008...

Sometimes I've followed them...

     ...sometimes I haven't.

It ain't been pretty when I haven't...

Why is it so easy for us to lose our focus & get side-tracked?



Look straight ahead,

     & fix your eyes on what lies before you

Mark out a straight path for your feet;

     then stick to the path

     & stay safe.

Don't get side-tracked,

     keep your feet from following evil.

Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT)



Here it is in The Message...


Keep your eyes straight ahead;

    ignore all sideshow distractions.

Watch your step,

    and the road will stretch out smooth before you.

Look neither right nor left;

    leave evil in the dust.



And in The Voice...


Keep your head up, your eyes straight ahead,

    and your focus fixed on what is in front of you.

Take care you don’t stray from the straight path, the way of truth,

    and you will safely reach the end of your road.

Do not veer off course to the right or the left;

    step away from evil, and leave it behind.

following

"...don't try to figure everything on your own."


I'm always trying to figure things out.

I think part of it might be a defense mechanism;

     another may be that I may be trying to get ahead of the game & be prepared for whatever eventualities lie ahead;

     while on the other hand, I may be just curious about makes things tick.


In any event, it seems I am always trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, of situations, of people, of life.


But sometimes God just wants me to shut up & follow Him.

     sometimes He doesn't tell me the why of situations bc He knows I'd run away from them if I knew;

     He also knows if I have a complete explanation of things, sometimes I'll try to make them happen.


Following Jesus doesn't always mean we'll know the who, what, where, when, & how of any given situation.

Lots of times, we just know to follow & let Him handle the rest.


That's been my life especially these past 4 years - there doesn't seem to be any change in that coming up.

So I follow, as best I can...

I guess it's all any of us can do, really.

    


Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,

     everywhere you go;

  He’s the one who will keep you on track. (The Message)

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Place your trust in the Eternal;


      rely on Him completely;

    never depend upon your own ideas and inventions.

Give Him the credit for everything you accomplish,

    and He will smooth out and straighten the road that lies ahead. (The Voice)

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Trust the Lord completely,

      and don’t depend on your own knowledge.

With every step you take,

      think about what he wants,

     and He will help you go the right way. (ERV)

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

    and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

    and He will make straight your paths. (ESV)

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Lean on,

     trust in,

     and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind

and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

In all your ways know,

     recognize,

     and acknowledge Him,

and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. (Amplified)

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

    do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek His will in all you do,

    and He will show you which path to take. (NLT)

people

John 2

23 Because of the miraculous signs He did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people were convinced that (Jesus) was indeed the Messiah.

24 But Jesus didn't trust them,

        because He knew what people were really like.

25 No one needed to tell Him about human nature.


Jesus knew & knows who we each are, really deep down inside.

     He knows the person we REALLY are when no one's around.

He knows how fickle we are, how weak,& how foolish.


And yet, He still  died for us.

the Son

John 1

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.

  The Word was with God,

  and the Word was God.

2 He existed in the beginning with God.

3 God created everything through him,

  and nothing was created except through him.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,*

  and his life brought light to everyone.

5 The light shines in the darkness,

  and the darkness can never extinguish it.


12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

14 So the Word became human

        and made his home among us.

He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

And we have seen his glory,

     the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

Niagara Falls

Sometimes my life is overwhelming.

Sometimes it feels like I'm standing under a waterfall, with the water flowing down on me & around me.

And sometimes the waterfall is Niagara Falls.

Sometimes, reading these verses help...

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have examined my heart

  and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

  You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.

3 You see me when I travel

  and when I rest at home.

  You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say

  even before I say it, LORD.

5 You go before me and follow me.

  You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

  too great for me to understand!


7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

  I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

  if I go down to the grave, you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

  if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

  and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me

  and the light around me to become night—

12   but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

  Darkness and light are the same to you.


13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

  and knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

  as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

  before a single day had passed.


17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

  They cannot be numbered!

18 I can't even count them;

  they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

  you are still with me!

loving each other means what?

1 John 3:11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning:

     We should love one another.

12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother.

And why did he kill him?

     Because Cain had been doing what was evil,

     and his brother had been doing what was righteous.

13 So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.


14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life.

     But a person who has no love is still dead.

15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart.

And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them.


16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.

      So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion - how can God's love be in that person?


18 Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other;

      let us show the truth by our actions.

19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth,

      so we will be confident when we stand before God.