Sounds crazy!

Day 4 of the James study is complete.  I am loving this study so far.  Mostly I love that it helps me stay on track.  It is funny how it works.  By having the daily lesson that I feel I must do to stay on track. . .I end up doing lots more.  I am also reading through the Old Testament to help with the Old Testament study.  I am on Chapter 12 of Genesis right now.  I do the Bible study in the early mornings and then do the reading in the afternoons. It is hard to stop and take time to sit down in the afternoon but I am enjoying the reading.  Some thoughts:

From Galatians 1 - After Paul's conversion, he spent time allowing God to teach him for two to three years.  Wow! The strength of his testimony was that it was directly from God and not just a passed down story. Paul immediately went to Arabia after his conversion where the risen Jesus taught him "by revelation" for the next two to three years (Galatians 1:11-18).  This really reiterated to me that we must spend time with the Lord.  We cannot depend on pastors and teachers to do our homework for us.  It would like paying the smart kid at school to do the work and trying to take the reward.  Besides who would want to miss the sweet fellowship that comes from spending time with Him? Not me. Yes, I do get off track and it saddens me since I know what I am missing.   Praise God that time spent with Him is addictive. It makes us want more and more!

From Genesis - To be sure there is no theology in this thought. . .but wonder if Noah ever thought he was crazy. I often have thought about how other people probably thought Noah was crazy but wonder if Noah doubted.  Did he ever think, what if I am going insane and that isn't God speaking to me?  How easy it is to explain away the Lord's voice and yet how hard it is to really listen.  Sadly, I know there are times when I have explained it away. We like to put God in a box. . .don't we?  We decide what He can and can't do and leave no room for Him to be God in our lives.

My prayer today is that I would be humble before the Lord. I believe with my whole heart that I must be.  I want to be teachable and willing to listen to Him no matter how crazy it may seem.