John 5:26 -- For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
The journey to see and hear Jesus in the book of John has been amazing. I've read this book many times but realize as I now walk with the Lord through it, just how much can be missed. I have always loved to read. With it came the habit of reading to reach the end. Our bibles have those nifty chapters, verses, and headers. So, it's easy to read from "The Healing at Bethesda" section so I can get to the "Jesus' Equality with God" section. Both of which are headers in my NASB bible.
Now hear me clearly say, those things, while not there in the original writings, are extremely helpful. I am grateful to have anything that help me memorize, reference back, and focus on God's Word. I just know for myself I have to make myself slow down, start with worship, pray, and talk with Him, then go into my Bible looking to walk with Him, see Him, and to hear Him speak. For me, these change my focus from opening a majorly important document to examine and read, to having the expectation to see and hear Him. It causes me to look for Him, instead of looking for my understanding of a text. When things jump out, I stop and marvel, and I pray and talk with Him about it.
Okay, okay, what's this all about?
Just this morning I prayed and stepped back onto the path of John chapter five and I found myself trying to force the journey forward. I was ready to move on to the next header, but the Lord kept me in verse twenty-six. I struggled and even got frustrated. Finally, I stopped, took a deep breath, told God I was sorry for being stubborn, and I wanted His will, not mine in this time.
Christian, I know life is beyond demanding, the world is beyond harsh, times are beyond tough, but God has so much waiting for you in His Word. It's not just the Christianity Owner's Manual that must be read. It's Him. It's the Living Word of God.
This past Friday I had a lot happening and anxiety crept in, then attacked. Suddenly, I was sick to my stomach, it was hard to breathe, and my mind was like the inside of a washing machine. Not a happy fun time.
It didn't end until it got brought fully to the Lord in all areas. I talked to God. I talked to my wife and close brothers, who prayed. Then my mind went to the Word. Proverbs 3:5-6 and Philippians 4:4-8. I had to let them soak in. Then I prayed and talked with the Lord again. My focus went from myself to the Lord, and I started on a long list of things I had to get done for work. The anxiety rolled back, slowly at first, then it was just gone.
Again, why does all this matter?
It matters because as Christians so many times we trudge through our days, being tossed back and forth by our feelings, our circumstances, our storms, and those things are very real, but we have this mighty anchor, the Bible, the Word of God, that we tend to forget in these times.
When our feelings, circumstances and storms are ever changing, His Word is eternally unchanged! We tend to pray about it, which is good. We ask others to pray, also good. Then most times we just go back to being tossed around wondering why the prayers aren't working.
Now, God will sometimes answer those prayers and remove storms, but I've found most times His answer is found by anchoring ourselves to His Word. Standing on the immovable rock of the Bible. Then storms, feelings, circumstances can thrash around all they want, and it can still be rough, but you'll be on stable ground, and can start to walk with Him through it!
That's all for today. I realize none of this was about the actual verse I studied but as I went to write the Holy Spirit just led me to share this. If you're going through something or stuck in something keep praying, keep having others pray, but don't stop there, go to Him in His Word. Look for Him, listen for Him, cling to Him.
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
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