Scripture and Sharpening

I'm starting this thread for two purposes:

1) To share Scriptures with others. It can be a Scripture or a passage, just whatever the Lord lays on your heart.

2) To share with others what the Lord is doing/how He is working in your life.

Let's sharpening each other!

::Is tempted to post the entire Psalm 119::

Good thread… I''l have to write some stuff on this in the next few days, so I guess I'll just post it on here as well!

this is awesome!!! Thanks for starting this, Bethany! :) :)

"For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:11-12

I love how whenever I feel like I've totally failed and I can't do anything, Jesus says, "It is because you can't do anything that I died for you." :)

A verse that I've been thinking a lot about right now is Psalm 101:2: "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart."

I'll try to post more later. :)

That is a beautiful passage, Esther! I love the last part of your comment, <blockquote>"It is because you can't do anything that I died for you." </blockquote>. That is so true, and so encouraging! Thank you for sharing that. :-)

"If I reguard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!" Psalm 66:18-20
This passage is so encouraging to me when I am very discouraged, and have cried out to God, but don't feel any better - because if I have a clear conscience, the Lord has heard me, and will be merciful to me - and in His timing, will lift my burden and fill me with renewed strength.

I have been thinking about Romans 8:38-39.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have been struggling a lot lately with different things and this has been a very comforting verse. Because it shows that God is always there for me.

Also I have been reading the books, "Shadow of the Almighty", "Gates of Splendor" and "Triumph of John and Betty Stam". They are such wonderful, moving and challenging books and I would encourage you all to read them if you haven't. But anyway, I am struck that they (the Elliots and Stams) would leave everything not knowing what is going to happen and go serve Christ in a foreign country where they know that it is dangerous. And with the Elliots even after Jim was killed by the Aucas Elizabeth went and lived with them…less than one year later!!!! They had such faith in God.

I love that passage, Carissa!
Thank you so much for sharing.

@Carissa: Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed reading and benefitting from it!

You to, @Gods Maiden of Virtue! (Is your name Rosy??)

Actually, it's Rosie. But close enough. :)

"Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."
~Psalm 40:5

This whole Psalm is so beautiful! I would encourage all of you to take the time to read it through completely.

Thanks for sharing that verse, Bethany - I agree - it is so beautiful! That verse impaticular reminds me of Psalm 139:17-18: "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake I am still with You."

One verse that I have been really encouraged by recently is Psalm 63:3: "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You."

And what really strikes me is that God's lovingkindness towards us is BETTER THAN LIFE!! Better than LIFE ITSELF – There aren't many things that are better than life. How amazing is that?!? And He will never withdraw it from us! His lovingkindness towards us is not dependent upon our obedience - yes, God will rebuke and chastize us, but he will never take His lovingkindness from us – because His lovingkindness towards us is centered on Christ. Now that is something I would call awesome.

:D That verse struck me too! I posted the whole thing on my blog 'cause I liked it so much! I don't think we realize how much God loves us, or we would yearn after Him like David did when he was in the desert.

I know! It is so simple, and yet so true! It has become a favorite of mine :-)
I think I'm going to go read that post on your blog……:D

Thanks for sharing, Rosie! I LOVE that verse, and it was one of my favorites when I memorized it for Bible Bee last year. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it!

Also, I left you a comment on my introduce yourself page :)

You're welcome. :) We just went over the lovingkindness of God in our ladies' study on Monday night, so it has really been on my mind in the past couple days. :)

You did? Oh, I didn't see it. I'll be right back.

Amen, Rosie! That was excellent. Thanks so much for taking the time to share that and bless everyone else with it.

This passage came to mind when I read your exhortation.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~Romans 8:38-39

Oh, does that make my heart rejoice!

Love that one too!! :D
wait…makes your heat rejoice?? :P

Bethany S. ~ You're welcome – it has been such a blessing for me to think about in the past few days, and has caused me to praise God more!

Romans 8:38-39 is such an encouraging and reassuring passage! And as you said, it really does make my heart rejoice that nothing ever can, or will seperate me from God's love – and also, because Christ can never lose His power, we can never lose our salvation. Praise the Lord!

Last week, I read something in my time with the Lord, that I thought was just so great! :-)

"Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me."
~Isaiah 45:21
I love how so many times throughout Isaiah 43, 44 and 45, it says things like, "I am the LORD, and there is no other," and "I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God." Verses 21 through 25 of chapter 45 are just oh-so-true! He is the only God, the only Lord, the only Savior – He will reign forever and ever. For the King reigns, and His Son! Period. End of story. :D
I'm sorry, I'm rambling again. I do that so often.

@Bethany: Sorry. :( :P

@Rosie: Amen!! Thanks for sharing. (btw…I liked your "ramblings" :)

Lol :D Well, I am a pretty reserved person, so I'm horrible at keeping conversations going. :) Anyway, you're very welcome – I love talking about Scripture, so in this case, if you set me going, I can talk a bit too much. :}

I'm so glad you take the time to share with us! That's what I really want in this thread… people sharing and blessing each other with the things the Lord has illuminated to them through His Word. I really appreciate it, so do keep it coming! :)

Oh, good! :) These are things that I just so love to talk about – I'm sure I'll be back here soon.
I also very much appreciate the things you have shared! And look forward to hearing others share as well. The Lord uses so many things to speak to us and enlighten us. :)

"There is no peace, says the LORD, for the wicked."
~ Isaiah 48:22

This verse is very simple and clear: there is no peace for sinners.
In one way, I find this verse very sobering; it causes me to want to share the gospel all the more – there are SO many people who are living lives without peace, or with a false sense of it. And they don't know it! Or they don't care.
And thinking of loved ones who are living their lives this way, it drives me to my knees for them - that the Lord would open their eyes to the truth and bring them to Himself. That they might have true peace found in Christ alone.

In another way though, I find this verse encouraging.
As a Christian, this verse is very encouraging because in Christ, I have true peace. What a wonderful thought that is!
Especially when I am discouraged, I can rejoice that, because I have been made new, I can have perfect peace in our Savior.

Thanks for sharing Rosie! :)

@Everyone: I recently started a small devotional called, "Quiet Times for Christian Growth." It's been really encouraging, challenging, and thought provoking. Even though I'm only part way in it, I would highly recommended it! :) http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=176