The Follow Up Talk

I am currently reading through one of the YouVersion bible app plans by The Bible Project. I highly recommend The Bible Project - they bring in a lot of history with the text so the Bible comes to life! This morning I read Romans 2-3 and had a few thoughts on how our actions should reflect our knowledge of God's truth. In these chapters, Paul was trying to deal with the tension between Jews and non-Jews who had different ways of living out their faith in God and Jesus. These chapters tell us we need to be "circumcised" in our hearts and that God has no partiality between people. What will save us - show God that we belong to him is: Our knowledge of his law - because this is how we know what is sin, AND Our actions - because this will show that our hearts and soul believe in Jesus and that we want to follow him. Paul's words on the conflict he saw are true today for Christians. This message by our guest Pastor, Ivan Tait, is particularly convicting. Our com...

This morning I read Ecclesiastes 4 and what stood out to me was God's message on loneliness. This chapter emphasizes that it is not good to experience the ups and downs of life alone. ( Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ) When it comes to the downs of life, is harder to get back up when you are all by yourself and trying to figure out things on your own. So, when you are struggling with something, it will be so much easier to get over that problem, or figure out a solution to that problem, when you have another person by your side who can help you out. Proverbs even had talked about the wisdom of having other people to help guide you. (See Proverbs 11:14; 15:22;19:20; 20:18 ) So, be wise and seek to have close friendships where you can be authentic and real and share your struggles. This chapter also emphasized that it is not good to go through the ups of life alone too. ( Ecclesiastes 4:8 ) This verse wonders what is the point of accumulating much wealth if it will only benefit yourself? Th...

It's been a while since I last posted. Though I missed blogging and felt an internal pressure to write, I decided to not give in to my inner critic and took a break. I was still reading my Bible and finished reading Proverbs, however, my joy in getting up early in the morning waned. I am going to experiment with some other times in the day to see what will work for me now. Over the past year I have learned and accepted that I'm not a creature of habit. I love to hop around and multitask and dive into different projects. With this in mind, it kind of makes sense that my attempt at keeping to a regular schedule of getting up at 5 am would not last forever. 😂 Because of my struggle with this, my practice of writing down my thoughts and doing a deep dive to understand what I was reading slowly stopped. I missed the deep dive and I hope with recreating my schedule, I can do some more writing and then some more blogging. Anyone else have this same struggle with trying to stick to a ...

I enjoyed reading Proverbs 20 . In Solomon's style of pointing out observations, he reminds us we need God's counsel to be the compass for our soul. I want to highlight my observations of his message to us. Our Compass : Proverbs 20:9-13 Solomon implores us to assess our actions through the lens of what's right in God's eyes. God is our guide and measurement for what is good and evil. Solomon's warning about sleep points to a spiritual slumber caused by not growing in our faith in God. This leads to an impoverished soul. Solomon says to "open thine eyes." We need to be alert and be aware of our spiritual state of being. We need to cultivate our spirit with God's word and direction. Solomon points out that when our eyes are open, we "shalt be satisfied with bread," meaning our soul will be filled. Our Counsel : Proverbs 20:5, 20:18, 20:24 I pondered over these verses for some time because I had a feeling there was something good that ne...

I am going to skip ahead of the many other things I wanted to write about to share what I read in  Proverbs 22 . This chapter became a pinnacle piece of Proverbs because it contains what I believe is an overarching goal of this book:  To give us certainty in the truth we are believing and to respond wisely to those that come our way with questions about our truth. Proverbs 22:17-21  says: 17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. 18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. 19 That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. 20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, 21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee? Thank God for the wisdom he gave Solomon. The world is benefiting from the truths a...

The chapters I've read and reflected on for the past couple of days had good advice that stood out to me here and there. I noticed an overriding theme that wisdom comes through controlling our hearts, reactions, and in checking how we relate with other people. Below is a list of verses that were key for me. Proverbs 16 gives good instruction on having wisdom over your emotions and spirit. 16:2 : This verse tells us that the Lord weighs our spirit. It's not enough to do the right things. God wants our motivations to be pure and righteous too. 16:20 : Here we see that using wisdom to handle the issues we face will bring about good results. We also learn that trusting in God, will bring us happiness. 16:32 : Here is encouragement to temper our anger. Don't let it fly off the handle. God tells us that controlling our angry emotions and spirit makes us strong. Proverbs 17 gives good instruction on having wisdom in how we treat each other. 17:15 : We should treat each...

For the past couple days I've been going over Proverbs 14 . It has some rich verses that made me reflect on work and relationships. They take a lot of effort and require  practicing patience in order to make them successful. Oxen ... labor ... slow ... The following are verses that made these three words meaningful. Oxen :  Proverbs 14:4 - "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox." Oxen are symbolic of work. A Wikipedia and Google search shows that these creatures are powerful and suited to do heavy tasks. Oxen are slow and steady and have a calmer temperament than other animals trained for work. Solomon's mention of a "crib" makes you realize that where there is oxen, you have a mess. Solomon's statement draws your attention to two admirable things: (1) cleanliness and all the things that are associated with that (organization, perfection, etc);  and (2) trudgery, which I'd describe as working metho...

There were two things that stood out to me in Proverbs 11 . I learned about using discretion and about generosity. Solomon's words show that those who practice these two things are wise. Practice being gracious: Verse 12 : He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. Verse 13 : A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Practice giving lavishly: Verse 24 : There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Verse 25 : The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Verse 26 : He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. Last Sunday, my Pastor's teaching was on the Godly principle of giving and tithing. He pointed out that the expectation for us to give is a test tied to a promise. He t...

Solomon uses the imagery of a harlot and a young man to express the point that we should exercise healthy caution when we are confronted with new ideas and teachings that conflict with God's Word. As I read through Proverbs 7 , I tried to see beyond the "what's wrong with this picture" story being told by Solomon, and came to that conclusion. Here we have a young and foolish man who is lured by a harlot who used enticing words to cause the man to willingly sin. Three things stood out to me in this text that we can use to avoid being unwise and stick to the godly path of life. 1. Educate yourself with God's Word . There's no getting around this simple necessity. Once we've accepted the truth that God exists and that our souls will live on eternally, we need to read the Bible in order to understand the difference between what will bring us eternal life and what will bring us eternal death. Proverbs 7:1-3 says: My son, keep my words, and lay up ...

I'm reading Proverbs 4 and 5 and some of the takeaway points were: (1) learn about wisdom and instruction, (2) let your whole body be in submission to wisdom, and (3) embrace correction Proverbs 4 implores us to get wisdom and understanding. We learn from this chapter that King Solomon's "father" taught Solomon the value of gaining wisdom and the dangers of ignoring it. ( Proverbs 4:3-4 ) "Wisdom is the principal thing" which sets you up for promotion, honor, grace and glory. ( Proverbs 4:7-9 ) If we want all of these good things, we need to be given wisdom and shown the right paths. We need to be teachable. Proverbs 4 is written in a dual way where it's implied that Solomon was taught by his father King David. We can also read Solomon's words and see him speaking metaphorically as a "father" to us. This writing style was oddly soothing because it helped me get past the thoughts of - well, what should people do if they don't hav...

I recently started the book of Proverbs. The author, King Solomon, seems to use a logical, teaching style that brings you to a firm conclusion. That's probably one of the reasons I enjoy Proverbs along with Solomon's other book, Ecclesiastes. Solomon is known for being one of the wisest kings in history, so it's not surprising that he starts off Proverbs by discussing wisdom. At work, we did a get-to-know-you activity where we shared our likes, dislikes, and a superpower we'd love to have. I chose wisdom - pretty tame compared to the powers of invisibility and flight, but pretty important to me. I'm sure my colleagues thought my choice was pretty weird, but I like to think I am so "cool" that they didn't bother questioning the "weirdness". Unlike my choice of superpower, all the other choices were things that could never be achieved. Unless science comes up with some pretty cool discoveries, we will never be invisible or fly without some so...

Unfortunately, I’ve been having notification issues on blogger. Google+ will soon be discontinued and I’m experiencing the effects of it now. This morning I was reading my Bible and because I wasn’t at home I had to use my Bible app. I realized that there’s a notetaking feature in the app that I could use to communicate my thoughts. So, I’m planning on using both this blog and my YouVersion app for posting. It’s my hope that you’ll be able to keep connected with me in one of those two ways. If you’d like to follow my postings on the Bible App, just add me as a friend there: Maureen S. Below is my first note: ************** Hello fellow Bible loving friends! Hello friends who are working on developing their love too! As some of you may know, the past 3 months has been an exciting time for me where I’ve grown to love God’s Word. You may also know that I have started a blog within this time too. (https://thefollowuptalk.blogspot.com) Because of email subscription and tech issues, Go...

A few mornings ago I read one of King David’s chapters, Psalm 139 . David described the extent of God’s knowledge of him. God knew him before he was born and had protected David in his mother’s womb. God knew every thought in his head and could see every step David took. There was no secret thing David could do or secret place David could go that was hidden from God. As a kid, I had this keen awareness that God was always watching me. At one point the thought made me nervous because this meant I had no real privacy to use the bathroom. God was watching! Thankfully, those thoughts didn’t hinder me from continuing our cultural ritual of daily cleansing, and I still take showers to this day. Still, the truth of David’s words was real to me then and now. God knows and sees all that we do and think. David’s words in verses 19-22 made me pause. First I thought – there’s our David, the warrior, ready to slay evil men. His words were passionate and told God, I do not like those evil peopl...

As Psalm 126 consists of just 6 verses, I was not anticipating a deep message to spurt forth from this short chapter. However, the last two verses made me really think. In my faith journal I was looking for three things that stood out to me from this chapter. I wrote down: (1) sow/reap, (2) tears/joy, and (3) seed. The psalmist prayed for God to change the miserable situation he and his people were facing. The people were in agony and in bondage of some sort. The psalmist used a beautiful simile to ask God to free his people from their situation and bring them to a place of having joy and blessings. I have read and heard preachings on verse 5 in the past and understood the general message of, "When you are God's child and you cry, you should not lose hope because your situation is only temporary. Later you will experience peace." This can generally be true. However, I didn't really see verse 6 where the psalmist talks about "precious seed". That made me...

So, what's my favorite psalm? My all-time favorite is Psalm 121 . One thing that I've started to do is put a musical note next to Bible verses that are songs. People have made a ton  of songs based on the verses in the book of Psalms! When I got to Psalm 121 last week, I couldn't even read it without music playing in the background in my mind. I couldn't just see the words written on the page - I saw a choir dressed in white. You see, this is my favorite psalm because it transports me back to when I truly decided for myself that I wanted to follow Jesus. I can't remember where I was, location-wise, however, I was attending a concert and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir was worshipping with a song based off Psalm 121. Back then I'm not sure I knew who this choir was, but a group of friends and I had decided to attend their concert. What I remember most from this concert was being moved by the words of their song, My Help , and having an experience with Jesus. I la...