One of the things that many people requested on the reader survey was a devotional. I thought about it and at first, I was certain that it wouldn’t work. I don’t really have time to add something else to my plate. But then I was up in North Carolina at my writer’s retreat. For those who didn’t see them, these are pictures I took on that trip…
Well, while we were there, several of us took turns giving a daily devotional, and one of the women pulled out her journal to share something she’d written seven years earlier while at the retreat. How cool is that? (I think it was 7…). That’s when it hit me. I don’t have to write something new or even type something up. I can just share pages from my devotional journal. Of course, I didn’t have one with me. So the woman with half a million (hyperbole there) blank books/journals went to Staples in Greenville, SC and bought yet another one. Of course, that also meant that I had to use it. So I got a small one and Wednesday, while trapped on a plane on the tarmac, I started it. This is my “lazy man’s devotional.” I’m just going to take a picture of what I’m learning in the Word and share it a time or three a week. That’s it. Nothing spectacular, no deep study of entire books or chapters (usually). Just how I’m being encouraged by the Lord through His Word that day.
Hope you enjoy the ride, and I won’t be offended if you decline to read.
Here’s the airplane entry. Usually, there won’t be an intro like this. Just a picture, possibly a question for you. This week’s question is, “Do you ever feel like you’re taking the Word out of specific context to learn a general and true principle taught elsewhere in the Bible?”
(Click on picture and then again for an easier read).
I agree it is awkward to pass on “out of context” type verses, unless you clarify. You don’t want to build a doctrine on something out of context. BUT what you are saying in this blog, may be similar to the following. I often express to my husband that I’m not afraid of being in Heaven, but I’m nervous about how it’s going to happen. My husband keeps reminding me that even if it happens in hardship and trouble, the reward will be so great and he quotes the appropriate scripture. I’m going to paraphrase our conversation, but it goes on like this. He says to me, you love being at Disney World, right? (aside: we have gone in the autumn when it is near empty – it’s awesome). So I say yes, I love being there. So he then says, but you agree that the trip is a big pain in the tush. Yep, pain in the tush. But when you get there, you don’t spend the whole time bemoaning the “pain in the tush”ness of getting there. That’s how it will be when you get to heaven, you won’t even think of how you got there. So he’s taking something I can relate to, pairing it with scripture verses that relate and making it make sense in my mind. I think this is what you are doing. Of course, we know Paul and David were going through far worse than sitting in an airplane waiting to take off, but we also know we are supposed to apply scripture to all situations in our lives. Maybe the Lord is preparing you for something much more difficult and you will be able to look back and remember this simple lesson.
I love that you are doing this! Sometimes I wonder about context, too, but like you, in the moment find them so relevant, even if slightly “mis-applied.” For example, I have a dear friend going through a great trial and all I can think is “I will restore unto you the years that the locust hath eaten” from Joel but I’m hesitant to share those verses with her in that way because of context. That promise was to the children of Israel for an entirely different reason. And yet…I fully believe that God will redeem this awful time in my friend’s life somehow.
Intriguing to share from your journal! Even if it is a new one.
Yes I do find I sometimes have truth revealed or applied out if context. It makes me smile.