These verses have been on my mind lately:

Psalm 3:2 - Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah

"And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are settled in complacency,
Who say in their heart,
'The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.'" -Zephaniah 1:12

Interviewer: What do you do to recharge, to get inspired?

Megan: Uhh, I study the ancient Babylonian language.

:)

After a long day, I just want to avoid all tasks and take shelter somewhere. I could take the train in the opposite direction and travel west toward Nineveh - to the mall. But I have plenty of delicious tea at home. Going home, though, brings to mind all the chores that need to be done. I may take shelter in the church library, if it's open. I could sit there and read through the 12 prophets with a tall yixing tumbler of strawberry pu-erh tea. Or I could poke at Akkadian... Whatever is done, though, true rest is found only in One.

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone." Ps 62

This verse has been on my mind lately:

David vowed: "Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob." -Psalm 132:3-5

I want to have this kind of interest in and zeal for God's glory, wherever I may be. I want this to mark me and make me. I want the Lamb of God to be enthroned at the center of my life, enthroned in the praises of Megan - indeed, enthroned in the praises of all Israel. (Psalm 22:3)

I've started reading a book called The Spirituality of Jesus: Nine Disciplines Christ Modeled for Us by Leslie T Hardin. It's been such an encouragement so far! Praise be to Jesus, our Savior and Teacher.

"What if we took the Gospels at face value and attempted to uncover the spirituality of Jesus? What if the Gospels, instead of only presenting a theological argument about Jesus, also accurately portrayed the disciplines in which Jesus was engaged?" page 14

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!" Deuteronomy 6:4

Jesus quoted this verse.

Mark 12:28-30 "Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, 'Which is the first commandment of all?' Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment...'"

We must first know God before we can love Him. We must first know God before we can worship Him. How can we walk with God at a distance?

My wrestling the past couple months have been particularly been around the implications raised by these verses. I can sum up the wrestling with this verse: "Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth Thee - for Thou art my God" (Psalm 143). In the past, I wanted to do "the thing that pleases God" because it was right; but now I'm beginning to have a deeper motivation. I want to do "the thing that pleases God" because He is my God. I want to know God, to enjoy fellowship with Him, to spend time together with Him both privately and in public worship, to find out who He is, to find out what things please Him and what things offend Him, to taste eternal life and to fulfill the purpose of my life. The first step is to hear His words and take Him at His word - believing what He says - and basing all else upon that.

"You shall have no other gods before Me." -Exodus 20:3

Megan's reflections: Today I tried to keep in mind what things I want, what things I delight in, what things I'm eager to tell others about. It made me more aware of how much I seek my own comfort at the expense of God, neglecting Him in my thoughts. How much more content I could be if God were truly my God above all else. May His true and loving Spirit transform my mind day by day - even as today was one of those days. His love endures forever.

He is worthy of worship. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." -John 6:27

Megan's reflections:

1. Eat what is good! (Isaiah 55)

2. Messiah did not come to hand out food so the people could quit their jobs and live an easy life. The people want bread, but God gives Himself to them. Verse 51: "the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." Is this not far better?

3. What does Jesus mean by "labor"? Verse 29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Romans 4:5 "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness..." Fundamentally, life springs from faith (Habakkuk 2) and once alive, faith produces the fruit of repentance. But, at the most basic level, do I believe that Jesus is alive? Do I believe that He rose from the dead? John 6:68-69 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Praise the Lord!

4. "let your soul delight itself in abundance" (Isaiah 55)

5. "the sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55) - what does this mean? God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 13:30, 34)

6. What do I want? What do I hunger for?

"And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." -Exodus 20:1-2

Megan's Reflections:

1. "For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no water." Jeremiah 2:13 - Stuff/items/distractions/covetousness often causes me to live as though there is no God.

2. God is real. It's easy to remember this in church or in the privacy of my own thoughts, but it's hard to keep this in mind as I step out into the world.

3. Genesis 1 - Let's go back to the basics. Romans 1:25 - Let's worship the Creator and not the things He created.

4. We can't see God, but He does reveal Himself to us through His word.

5. It is around God that we rally - not another person, not a denomination, not a theology

6. Luke 1 - live before Him

7. It is not about adding more acts, but seeing the Living God. I will wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 8). I will come into Your house - there I will bow (Psalm 5:7).

After church on Saturday, we studied the forth chapter of the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot). One of the sayings said: "Ben 'Azzai said, Hasten to a slight precept, and flee from transgression; for precept induces precept, and transgression induces transgression; for the reward of precept is precept, and the reward of transgression is transgression." (Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, translated by Charles Taylor, 1897.)

In church on Sunday, the pastor said that most Christians don't get too excited about the law - the books of Moses - but that the Psalms are filled with songs of love for the law of the Lord. God's law should be a joy to the Christian because Jesus has freed us from slavery to sin (Romans 6:1-2) and the Spirit of God works in us to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness (Luke 1:74-75). Reading the law, we can see more of God's glory and more of God's mercy to us in Messiah.

For me, though, I often think of commandments and sin in vague terms. I find it difficult to repent, because I don't see God or myself clearly enough to discern what is good and what is evil. So I decided to try a new exercise.

Each day, I plan to take a mitzvah - a commandment - as my mitzvah for the day. My goal is to consider this commandment throughout the day so as to see God more clearly, see sin more clearly, rejoice in God's righteousness, rejoice in His mercy, repent of my sins, and praise Jesus the Savior King. May God help me - that through this exercise I would grow in holiness, humility, and joy and reflect Him more and more.