Good morning ladies,
A few years ago one of my best friends moved to Texas. When I went to visit her we went to a Christian bookstore and I met a man, who, in one encounter changed the course of my life.
At the time I had just finished leading a Beth Moore study at the church. Beth had just come out with a new book so when I walked in the store I was greeted by a huge Beth Moore display and I stopped to look. This man, John, who worked at the store, came over and started talking to me about Beth Moore. Although I think Beth is wonderful I had to be honest and say that I personally preferred the type of Bible study taught at Bible Study Fellowship.
Well, that did it. We were kindred sprits. He had served as a discussion leader under A. Wetherell Johnson, the founder of BSF for years. The conversation continued for hours and somehow it came out that I NEVER write in my Bible. John couldn’t believe it because he knew BSF leaders were sometimes instructed to mark passages in their Bibles. Nope, I said, even when my teaching leader told me to, I refused to mark in my Bible. He said I had a disobedient spirit. HUMPH!
What he said bugged me and when I got home I needed to prove him wrong so I decided I would write in my Bible. Of course I didn’t want to write in my “good Bible” so I went and found an Inductive Study Bible that I had bought years before after hearing Kaye Arthur, the founder of Precepts speak. I went to Precept training a few months later.
During that encounter John, recommended two books that he said had changed his life: Randy Alcorn’s Money, Possessions, and Eternity and Eugene H. Peterson’s Run with the Horses, The Quest for Life at Its Best, both of which I bought. I read Mr. Alcorn’s book and loved it, but somehow I couldn’t get into Run with the Horses. I tried a few times, but it never made any sense to me, so I kept putting it aside.
Friday after God told me it was time to run, I went and found the book.
Run with the Horses is the story of Jeremiah; a prophet in the Old Testament who was obsessed with God and His Law. The Israelites, for many years, had lost God’s law and had been led by their kings into evil practices. When eight year old Josiah came to the throne, God used his innocent and uncorrupt spirit to start a revival. Josiah ordered the temple renovated and during the repairs a priest found the book of Deuteronomy, Josiah immediately put into action everything that was read to him.
And that is where Jeremiah comes in.
Jeremiah saw the changes, but he knew they were only skin deep. People had changed their behaviors, but they hadn’t changed their hearts. They were following the letter of the law, but not the spirit. It was all images without substance, and that doesn’t honor God.
The same is true today:
It is not enough to be in the right place; it is not enough to say the right words; it is never enough until we are walking with God twenty-four hours a day everywhere we go, with everything we say an expression of love and faith. ...........Eugene H. Peterson
And that only happens if we take the time to get to know Him.
Love,
Jill
A few years ago one of my best friends moved to Texas. When I went to visit her we went to a Christian bookstore and I met a man, who, in one encounter changed the course of my life.
At the time I had just finished leading a Beth Moore study at the church. Beth had just come out with a new book so when I walked in the store I was greeted by a huge Beth Moore display and I stopped to look. This man, John, who worked at the store, came over and started talking to me about Beth Moore. Although I think Beth is wonderful I had to be honest and say that I personally preferred the type of Bible study taught at Bible Study Fellowship.
Well, that did it. We were kindred sprits. He had served as a discussion leader under A. Wetherell Johnson, the founder of BSF for years. The conversation continued for hours and somehow it came out that I NEVER write in my Bible. John couldn’t believe it because he knew BSF leaders were sometimes instructed to mark passages in their Bibles. Nope, I said, even when my teaching leader told me to, I refused to mark in my Bible. He said I had a disobedient spirit. HUMPH!
What he said bugged me and when I got home I needed to prove him wrong so I decided I would write in my Bible. Of course I didn’t want to write in my “good Bible” so I went and found an Inductive Study Bible that I had bought years before after hearing Kaye Arthur, the founder of Precepts speak. I went to Precept training a few months later.
During that encounter John, recommended two books that he said had changed his life: Randy Alcorn’s Money, Possessions, and Eternity and Eugene H. Peterson’s Run with the Horses, The Quest for Life at Its Best, both of which I bought. I read Mr. Alcorn’s book and loved it, but somehow I couldn’t get into Run with the Horses. I tried a few times, but it never made any sense to me, so I kept putting it aside.
Friday after God told me it was time to run, I went and found the book.
Run with the Horses is the story of Jeremiah; a prophet in the Old Testament who was obsessed with God and His Law. The Israelites, for many years, had lost God’s law and had been led by their kings into evil practices. When eight year old Josiah came to the throne, God used his innocent and uncorrupt spirit to start a revival. Josiah ordered the temple renovated and during the repairs a priest found the book of Deuteronomy, Josiah immediately put into action everything that was read to him.
And that is where Jeremiah comes in.
Jeremiah saw the changes, but he knew they were only skin deep. People had changed their behaviors, but they hadn’t changed their hearts. They were following the letter of the law, but not the spirit. It was all images without substance, and that doesn’t honor God.
The same is true today:
It is not enough to be in the right place; it is not enough to say the right words; it is never enough until we are walking with God twenty-four hours a day everywhere we go, with everything we say an expression of love and faith. ...........Eugene H. Peterson
And that only happens if we take the time to get to know Him.
Love,
Jill
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