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Remember to make good use of the Comment Cafe if you need to bolster your own study, and glean from your sisters who are studying right along with you this week!
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looking forward to being able to connect with you here!
love,
Cathie
My mind is still on Babylon and what it means for me, for my life, what am I supposed to see in myself that shouldn't be there. "Come out of her my people so that you will not participate in her sins..."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to throw my thoughts out there so I can cement this in my mind and heart - so I don't go there or live there (Babylon).
OK - like Debbie said briefly in our class - Babylon is not only a city in the past, a future city or the way others (unbelievers) are living. It can be something in us - it's anything or way of living that is outside of God's path. Living for another (myself?) (playing the harlot)
I keep thinking about Ezekial 16 - this passage Cathie read a couple of weeks ago really hit me and I felt it gave me a more clear understanding of what "living in Babylon" "playing the harlot" is.
How the Lord in love, grace and mercy looked at someone who was undeserving, unclean and a throw away (v. 5)and said to them "live". And not just live but washed them, clothed them, adorned them and made them exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. ("it was perfect because of His splendor")
BUT.. they didn't then live for HIM, as you would expect since they now had everything, but wanted to live for their own dreams, hopes and desires. They used all that had just been given them and began to use them for their own purposes (they forgot where they had been brought from and the life they had been saved from) They used these magnificent things to accomplish their own desires, hopes and dreams - they became a harlot.
When I read this is just disgusted me to think that I could live this way - I think sometimes, because we love ourselves, our own dreams, desires and hopes don't really feel that ugly or disgusting to us - but this passage really shows us that they are ugly, dirty and disgusting.
I want to keep reminding myself of all this and check out my own life and my own efforts and my own desires - who are they for? Myself? or the Lord? Do I remember where He has brought me from, saved me from. I want to get rid of the wrong kind of living in me - not use what God has given and provided for me for myself and my own purposes, my own glory. "Come out of her so that you will not participate in her sins..." Get out and stay out of Babylon!
Love to hear any of your added thoughts or clarifications.
Hi Sally,
ReplyDeleteI have reread your comments a few times reread Ezekiel 16 and am struggling because I don't seem to see it quite the same way you do. Yes, the people did not respond to God as they should have; they worshiped idols and their own pleasures. They did forget all that their God had given to them but I don't think that our own dreams,desires and hopes are necessarily ugly, dirty and disgusting; they could be in line with what God has planned for us. Because we love Him,we want to live our life in accordance with His plan for us. The gifts God has given us can be used to give Him glory and honour or they can be used to dishonour HIm. My own desires and hopes are to give Him glory in all my thoughts and actions. I know that I fail, sometimes alot, and then I ask Him to help me to be continually doing better--to help me to be more and more like Jesus and less and less like my sinful self. Maybe there is something I am not understanding. Please reply when you have time. I have been know to totally "miss the boat"in understanding.
Love you,
Jan
Jan
ReplyDeleteIt would probably be easier to explain in person. I'm not so good writing these thoughts out. When I read this passages I want to be sure I don't just assume this doesn't apply to me - I felt that the Lord was reminding me to desire to put Him first and not myself - not to go my own way, to remember what He has done for me - I think I saw some of this wrong living in myself, living for my own dreams, my own glory and not always putting Him first. Not the good desires and dreams you were talking about. I know I have a long way to go and just want to be honest.
Hi Sally,
ReplyDeleteI am not very good at writing my thoughts either. Like you, I think I can make myself understood much easier in person.
Perhaps where I see failures in myself is that when things go wrong in my life I don't always go to Him first. I tend to try to solve issues by my self first and just become more and more agitated. When I do go to Him first I have a greater sense of peace even when the situation does not resolve the way I want it. I also struggle with wanting His will to be done if it is not what I want to happen. I guess that is making my own wish for the situation my choice(My idol, perhaps) and sometimes, with really painful things that I want to go a certain way, even though I pray that "Your will, not my will be done" I am hoping that what I want will be according to His will. So there I am putting my own desires first. My desires are not bad desires but they may not be His will, In that case I wonder if I am a liar and a hypocrite when I pry for His will to be done, not my will be done.
Love,
Jan
Hi Cathie, Cat, or a knowledgeable sister out there,
ReplyDeleteI have a bit of a question about out study this week. Joel2:30-31 says "And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes." Acts 2 quotes that yet 1Thess. 5:2 says "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night." How can the day of the Lord comelike a thief in the night if we are going to see these dramatic wonders in the sky before He comes? Won't we know by these signs that He is coming? What am I missing?
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI am just trying to learn how to send my comment.
Still trying to send a comment!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell I finally can comment!! I am not a computer person as you can see but thanks to a great husband I can finally comment. Jan I think that both things can happen because things will happen very quickly. I don't think that it will necessarily be at night but that this is used to show us how Jesus will come unexpectedly and quickly so we can still see all these signs but it will all happen so quickly that the world wont know what is happening. Does that make any sense to you?
ReplyDeleteHi Sally,
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that as I read your first comment it made me think how grateful I am to have read that passage so that I can strive to live more for Jesus. I don't want to become depressed by this but instead try to be proactive in my walk and realize that God loves me and that I must be very careful to listen to His Holy Spirit and let it guide me in my walk. As Cathie said please let me teachable. I am so thankful for this Bible study as before this I would never have known how to walk with the Lord.
I've enjoyed listening in to all of your discussion this week!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing you all this morning! 😀