Day 4 - Bible Study

I had originally begun to follow a topic index at the back of my Bible, when I was drawn to several verses above it.

JOHN 14
23) Jesus answered and said to him, "I anyone loves Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

24) "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

25) "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

26) "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

27) "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you and not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

28) "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you love Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father.' for My Father is greater than I.

29) "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe."

When you love someone, you want to do things to please him (or her). You do things that make them happy and/or bring them honor. How much more so do we want to do things to please and bring honor to God? And how do we feel when we do? Happy, and at peace.

There are a lot of things in my life, as in anyone's life, that create stress. In my family, we deal with physical, mental and developmental issues. Sometimes I hesitate to mention the mental, because there is a prejudice against people with mental health issues in this country. But with God, I do not need to be afraid. It may be that my experiences may help someone else. Therefore I choose to abide in God's love and to not fear the opinions of others.

The Holy Spirit can be with us day by day until such time as we go to live with the Father and Son, or, as in the passage above Jesus and God come to make Their home with the ones who love Them. What a day that will be!

What a great example for us to follow. I copied the scriptures above out of my copy of the Bible (NKJ Version)...smack dab in the middle of God's Word (the Bible). I don't pretend to be a "Bible Scholar" or to know everything. That is why I have this handbook, this set of directions, this 'user's guide to life'. I am to be obedient, to remember, to rejoice, to be at peace, to be unafraid and to believe. Wow...that's a lot. It is no sacrilege to say, "Thank God, I don't have to do it all on my own!"

The error I need to avoid in this is being afraid. I've already mentioned being afraid of the opinions of others. I tend to think the worst first. For example, when I'm at work and see the supervisor and home manager talking in another part of the room, I assume it's about something bad that I've done. How silly is that! I don't want to live in fear anymore.

The command in the passage is two-fold: to remember and to believe. There is a saying that goes, "Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I want to remember God's Word without hesitation or reservation. But in terms of "my past", I want to remember but not be bound by it. When I started college, I was a musical theatre major. At the end of my 1st year, I had to pass an audition. My partner was a 2nd year voice student. I let her choose the scene, which showcased her talents wonderfully. The 2nd year auditions were a week before the 1st year and on the day of her audition, one of the professors came up to me and said, "We'd thought to just do your audition today as well." I was devastated and felt so unprepared - mentally. I performed badly. One of the professors wrote that I should find something else to do because I'd never make it in musical theatre. I was BOUND by that remembrance for 10 years, until I was back in college and literally dragged myself to an audition for "The Importance of Being Ernest", in which I got the part of Lady Bracknell. Six years (and some 25-30 plays) later, I was no longer bound.

Does my fear rise to the level of sin, though? In some ways...yes. Insofar as the fear binds me to living a marginal life, to not "being all I can be", to not being the woman God wants me to be, yes, it is a sin and needs to be forsaken.

How can I apply what I have learned from this passage to my life today?

I want to think about the things I fear ... and make plans and goals on how to conquer these fears. I will write another entry tonight after work with at least some of my list and how things are going. With God on my side, how can I lose?