04.23-24.2015.
MY HEART LONGS FOR SOMETHING MORE (IT)
I do not know about you, but I seem to have a constant thirst. I am always longing for, and searching for, more. I want more out of this life and know it wants more from me. But, what?
I have searched high and low, this way and that way, in this manner and in that, all around, and still have not found it. It, the thing I long for. I might find something that satisfies for a little while, but it is never permanent. It always shifts and I realize that was not it and I wanted more and something else all along. I tend to be all over the place, never fully commit to any one thing, because I realize whenever I find something, thinking it is it, I suddenly realize that was only temporary. I long for something longer lasting. Something deeper. Something mindblowingly (made up word) good. But, never find it.
It seems like there is nothing on this earth that will bring me this total happiness, sense of peace and joy. Nothing lasts here on this planet. Everything I have tried and sought fizzles out and dies. From food, to travel, to things, to people, to writing, to reading, to buying... It is all temporary and is fickle.
What is it? And what is the it that lasts?
Am I missing it somehow?
WHAT IS IT, THIS ILLUSIVE IT?
So, what is it?
What is it, truly, my heart longs for and desires?
What is this more?
What is it and is this more, that will totally, completely, deeply, entirely fulfill me and will last forever?
Is this just me? Sigh. I know it isn't. If you were to walk into one of those old-fashioned things called a library or bookstore, or look it up at a contemporary bookseller online, you will find thousands (hundreds of thousands really) of self-help books and memoirs of those who have struggled with this dilemma over the course of time.
So, do all of us search for an individualistic it or is it the same it we all try to find?
The reality of the situation is if someone were to really find this it, the entire earth would seek it. But, it has not been found. Right? Is this it illusive or have we just missed it, skipped it, overlooked it somehow?
Again... What is this it?
THE IT WE ALL SEEK
The it we all seek is one in the same. Every single human being longs for this. It is in our DNA to seek it out. We may deny it. We may ever scoff at it, deny it, ignore it, flatdab reject it, but it is still one in the same. We all seek the same it. It is our pursuit of it that might differ. We all look for answers in our own way, trying every possibility, but there is only one.
Our it we are so desperate to find is purpose. It isn't really happiness. It's purpose and to know we are relevant and our lives mean something and are full of meaning.
It is our search for meaning, for purpose.
What is our purpose and what brings us meaning? What is our true purpose and is not one of wishful thinking and is not one we fabricate. It is far deeper and far more meaningful than we think, but is far simpler.
Our purpose is found in Jesus Christ and spending eternity with Him and His Father in heaven.
The statement I just made might sound like a nice thought, or it might seem a little weird, depending on where you are in life. But, it is a true statement.
The only true, real, deep happiness, joy, purpose, and meaning we will ever find is in Jesus Christ. Period.
How can this be? Ephesians 1 explains this:
Ephesians 1 Living Bible (TLB)
1 Dear Christian friends at Ephesus, ever loyal to the Lord: This is Paul writing to you, chosen by God to be Jesus Christ's messenger. 2 May his blessings and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.
4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault—we who stand before him covered with his love. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!
6 Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 So overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son, by whom we are saved; 8 and he has showered down upon us the richness of his grace—for how well he understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
9 God has told us his secret reason for sending Christ, a plan he decided on in mercy long ago; 10 and this was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are—in heaven or on earth—to be with him in Christ forever. 11 Moreover, because of what Christ has done, we have become gifts to God that he delights in, for as part of God's sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be his, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12 God's purpose in this was that we should praise God and give glory to him for doing these mighty things for us, who were the first to trust in Christ.
13 And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. 14 His presence within us is God's guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit's seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
15 That is why, ever since I heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and of the love you have for Christians everywhere, 16-17 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that he has done for you. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future he has called you to share. I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ's have been given to him! 19 I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in heaven, 21 far, far above any other king or ruler or dictator or leader. Yes, his honor is far more glorious than that of anyone else either in this world or in the world to come. 22 And God has put all things under his feet and made him the supreme Head of the Church— 23 which is his body, filled with himself, the Author and Giver of everything everywhere.
-- Living Bible (TLB). The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
We also find meaning and purpose because of this:
Romans 1:20 New Living Translation (NLT)
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
-- New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
And one final passage to explain things:
John 3:16-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
All of this will be explained in my journaling through the Book of Romans.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALING THROUGH ROMANS
{Written 2015-04-22 15:37:51, Wednesday}
Welcome to a new chapter for this blog. I will share my journey as I walk through reading two verses of the Bible per day until I make my way through the Bible all the way through. It will take somewhere between 20 and 25 years or so. It could be more or it could be less. We shall see what happens.
I will start with the Book of Romans, as you might have guessed. It is my goal to journal my way through Romans as I try to figure out what it means to my life, the world, and the Church today. It's a book that was written by the Apostle Paul in the year A.D. 57. Therefore, is it really possible to apply this ancient text to my life today? And, how can Romans help me live a better life and grow a deeper faith?
I hope to make this book come alive in my life and that it will take on deep meaning to me. I look forward to seeing what I learn and how it impacts me and my life.
NOTE ABOUT THE CHURCH
By the way, I need to make something clear. Whenever I say "The Church" in my personal prayer journaling, I'm referring to the Christian Church as a whole, including all denominations, Catholicism, Orthodox, etc. I mean all of the churches in a world and all Christians, the body of believers. I will then differentiate between churches, including the overall American Church (of all churches in the U.S. combined).
JOURNALING NOTES AS I READ VERSES OF THE BIBLE
As I read the Bible, I will take notes. As I do, I will put a number inside brackets and will then put the numbered notes after the Bible verse or passage.
READING ROMANS 1
Today, I will read the entire chapter of Romans and familiarize myself with the chapter so as I go through two verses at a time, I will have the context as a whole.
Romans 1 Living Bible (TLB)
1 Dear friends in Rome: This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ's slave, chosen to be a missionary, and sent out to preach God's Good News. 2 This Good News was promised long ago by God's prophets in the Old Testament. 3 It is the Good News about his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came as a human baby, born into King David's royal family line; 4 and by being raised from the dead he was proved to be the mighty Son of God, with the holy nature of God himself.
5 And now, through Christ, all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us undeserving sinners; and now he is sending us out around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done for them, so that they, too, will believe and obey him.
6-7 And you, dear friends in Rome, are among those he dearly loves; you, too, are invited by Jesus Christ to be God's very own—yes, his holy people. May all God's mercies and peace be yours from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.
8 Let me say first of all that wherever I go I hear you being talked about! For your faith in God is becoming known around the world. How I thank God through Jesus Christ for this good report, and for each one of you. 9 God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to the one I serve with all my might, telling others the Good News about his Son.
10 And one of the things I keep on praying for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you and, if possible, that I will have a safe trip.* 11-12 For I long to visit you so that I can impart to you the faith that will help your church grow strong in the Lord. Then, too, I need your help, for I want not only to share my faith with you but to be encouraged by yours: Each of us will be a blessing to the other.
13 I want you to know, dear brothers, that I planned to come many times before (but was prevented) so that I could work among you and see good results, just as I have among the other Gentile churches. 14 For I owe a great debt to you and to everyone else, both to civilized people and uncivilized alike; yes, to the educated and uneducated alike. 15 So, to the fullest extent of my ability, I am ready to come also to you in Rome to preach God's Good News.
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God's powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven. This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now everyone is invited to come to God in this same way. 17 This Good News tells us that God makes us ready for heaven—makes us right in God's sight—when we put our faith and trust in Christ to save us. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scripture says it, "The man who finds life will find it through trusting God."*
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. 19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day.
21 Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn't admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead. 23 And then, instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves, carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny men.
24 So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do whatever they wanted to—yes, vile and sinful things with each other's bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn't obey the blessed God who made these things.
26 That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God's natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sex relationships with women, burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved.
28 So it was that when they gave God up and would not even acknowledge him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness, and gossip.
30 They were backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents. 31 They tried to misunderstand, broke their promises, and were heartless—without pity. 32 They were fully aware of God's death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others to do them, too.
-- Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Romans 1:1-2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God's good news— 2 which He promised long ago through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures—
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Romans 1:1-2 Expanded Bible (EXB)
1 From Paul, a ·servant [slave; bondservant] of Christ Jesus. ·God called me [L …called] to be an ·apostle[messenger] and ·chose me [set me apart; appointed me] to tell the ·Good News [Gospel].
2 God promised this ·Good News [Gospel] ·long ago[beforehand; previously] through his prophets, as it is written in the Holy Scriptures.
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
I will write more about this tomorrow.
Blessings,
--Stacy Duplease
Email:
agodlyvision@gmail.com
rememberingyourpresent@gmail.com
Blogs:
http://journaltheword.blogspot.com
http://rypstories.blogspot.com
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