When your HEART needs to slow down. And GLORY!

We sat at the dinner table last night and my daughter brought up the verse in the picture below.

THEN, this ⬇️ popped up on my Facebook. I had written it a few years ago, but my heart needed it again. And I’m thankful the Lord is so sweet to repeat Himself like this with me when he needs to. I know it’s not a coincidence that I came across the same verse twice in a matter of hours.

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John ends his book talking about that there is so much more to to talk about.

That’s the funny thing about the Word. There is so MUCH there. I don’t want to ever take a passage for granted just because it is familiar.

A while back, I bought myself a journaling Bible…clean and crisp with lined pages for notes.

Nothing yet underlined, highlighted, starred, or stained by my tears.

Oh I cherish my well-worn, marked-up Bible; but I noticed my eyes had began to fall too quickly on the underlined verses and the notes from the past.

I knew God had so much more to say than just what I had heard Him say before.

And in this busy, hard world, my heart needed to slow down, and listen, and savor.

I needed to worship.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE reading plans and formal Bible studies to keep me accountable and on track. I love learning with others. God has taught me so much this way!

But I also know I’m only a little bit “Mary” but a whole lot “Martha”.

If I’m not careful, I’ll race through a study to get the right answer, check off a box, and completely miss the delight and worship that comes from drawing near the Savior through His Word.

As I’ve asked God to speak over each new page, I’ve slowed down enough to cherish Him in new ways.

I’ve noticed verses and truths afresh and anew; and I have delighted in worship of Him.

Some days, I’ve only made it through one verse before my heart has about burst in awe of our Lord.

Other days, I’ve given myself time to search out a word in other parts of Scripture and simply listen for the Holy Spirit to teach me something new.

Oh friend. What a Savior we serve who speaks through His Word! How deserving of our praise!

But, if we aren’t careful, those of us who serve Him, who teach others, who speak and share, those who can naturally be so task-oriented, who grew up in Christian schools and Sunday schools, sometimes fail to let our hearts have time to simply delight in Him.

Sometimes, we get so busy trying to prepare for others we miss the delight of God for ourselves—we miss the awe and wonder!

We can complete the lesson and fail to draw near the Teacher!

And our hearts need to draw near, and be in AWE! We were made to worship the God of the Bible not our Bibles!

This God we serve is amazing! He cannot be defined or contained! His love for us is more glorious than my pen could ever describe.

I don’t want to ever think I know Him so well that I take one passage for granted. I want Him to teach my heart afresh. I want to delight in Him over and over and never, ever become so familiar with my Bible that I cease to be blown away by His unending goodness in every word He speaks and everything He does!

I love how the book of John ends… He’s just told of the greatest true story ever told, but John knows there is so much more!!

“Now there are many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that’s the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. “ (John 21:25). ❤️

Oh Glory! Glory for the things God has done and said! But also GLORY for the things He will do and say as we seek Him afresh, as we savor each word anew, as we allow our hearts to never, ever take Him or His Word for granted!

What a Savior!!!

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