Words cannot express how much the simple SOAP acronym is changing my life. Being a part of this challenge, and the little blogging community going through it together, is just so awesome, and encouraging.
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Reading: Mark 12Scripture:
Mark 12 : 40
40 - They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.
Observations:
Pride. The teachers of the law are all about status, and importance, and being the IT crowd. If there were paparazzi in those days, they would be following the teachers of the law. The make grand shows over following the obscure details, and have no heart for the people they are supposed to be teaching at all.
No wonder people are still confused.
How do you get to the heart of God when the teachers are shouting "UnCLEAN!" rather than praying over the hurt, lost and in need of healing?
How do you see the heart of God when the teachers are blinded by the scriptures hanging from their foreheads, rather than living the MEANING of the words He gave us?
Application:
Be Authentic. Don't Fake it.
When praying to my Lord, it would be better to sit in silence than to talk to fill up space.
If I am going to live my faith out in the real world, then be real.
It is better to struggle with the idea of a Real, Living, Active, Compassionate and Loving GOD than to reduce Him to something that is barely worth worshiping at all.
It is better to struggle to accept His love, than to preach on things that don't have anything to do with the HEART of God.
God is bigger, better, more awesome, more majestic (running out of words...) than I could ever comprehend. Yes.... I have trouble grasping His goodness. But it is exciting to be in this place. To be realizing that the depth of my Savior's love for me is more profound than I could have imagined?? Yes. I will wrestle with that -- GLADLY.
Because that is much more enticing than someone who acts like they have it all together, when all they focus on are the things that don't matter.
In the end:
Denominations won't matter.
Service styles will be irrelevant.
What you wear to church on Sunday will be forgotten.
In the end:
Your Father loves you with an everlasting love.
His Son died for YOU (and for many) so that you would have EVERLASTING LIFE.
Let the focus be on the TRUTH, and let everything else fade away . . .
Prayer:
My God,
There are at least three different praise songs filling my heart right now.
Help me to carry them with me through the day.
Help me to feel your peace during this extremely busy and stressful week.
Let me never stop focusing on your heart. Help me to always remember your love.
Thank you, so very much, for revealing yourself to me every. single. day. in the area that I need it the most.
Awed by you,
Amen.
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