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I'm so glad you are here! I hope during your visit you get a glimpse of God's heart for we become what we are gazing at. Currently I am writing my way through Judges sharing glimpses of God's heart and character for a weekday devotional. To check out the entire series so far head on over the the Judges Devotional. And check out a new post on the Attributes of God under the Missional Tab. And why not check out the Women's Bible Study I wrote?  What do you regret? The things I regret the most are the things the Lord specifically told me not to do and I did anyway. Like dating a guy in college for 2.5 years I knew He didn't want me to. And not sharing the gospel with someone when He prompted me to. The guy commit suicide a few months later. Regrets can come when we we go against God's desires for us, when we don't fully think through the implications of something and find out after the fact or when we are not looking at situations through God's perspective. That's what happened with the Israelites. "The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah never to give their daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin. And the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. "O LORD, God of Israel," they cried out, "why has this happened? Now one of our tribes is missing!" Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. Then they said, "Was any tribe of Israel not represented when we held our council in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah?" At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD's presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come must die. The Israelites felt deep sadness for Benjamin and said, "Today we have lost one of the tribes from our family; it is nearly wiped out. How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?" So they asked, "Was anyone absent when we presented ourselves to the LORD at Mizpah?" And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended. For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present." Judges 21:1-9 God told them to attack the Benjaminites but He didn't tell them not to give their daughters to them in marriage. When we add things to God's Word it benefits no one. Ultimately it caused them to regret obeying the Lord and try to shimy their way out of their predicament. The only way to be able to finish this life strong and not look back with regrets is by turning to the Lord and letting Him live His life through us. Our flesh is powerless, but the Holy Spirit living inside believers is able to all things (Phil. 4:13). And it's only by surrendering, yielding our will that He can have His rightful place of authority in our hearts and lives. The result of yielding to the fruit-bearer? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. And who regrets being too joyful? Too self-controlled? To faithful? What a gift to get to be empowered by the Holy Spirit!   So What's Next?I have been super duper excited about my next series Creation Revealing the Glory of God, and I can't believe it's almost here! I'm not sure how long it's going to take to get through the very last chapter of Judges so if you haven't already, you might want to subscribe so you don't miss any of this next series. Each post is going to highlight some awesome thing God created and how they show off His awesome character. Squeel! I am so excited! After the Creation Revealing the Glory of God series I am going to do a one week series on How to Use Social Media for the glory of God as an intro to some exciting news. But... after that, I am bouncing around ideas of what book of the Bible to write through and would love your help. What book of the Bible would you like me to write on? (Just a heads up I'm a little partial to books packed with stories.) So will you take a second to vote?  Faith Filled Friday Blog Link UpWe exist to glorify God, to display His heart and character. And I just love how we are all uniquely built to do that. So every Friday I want to give you, uniquely designed by God, an opportunity to link up your thoughts on God, art, baking, photography, parenting, marriage, writing or blogging and more if they tie into or display the the Lord somehow. So go ahead and link up below by clicking the link below and following the prompts. I just humbly ask that you please let your readers know by including a link at the bottom of your post (or somewhere on your side bar) or put my button code (found on my side bar or the Faith Filled Friday Tab) so they can find these other great people glorifying God and we can continue to grow as a community. Thanks! In effort to encourage others in their writing by faith, please take a minute to comment on the two posts linked up before you. I'm linking up with Spiritual Sundays
29 Comments
The thing that I regret the most is exactly the thing that has brought me and my family to God's salvation. I always wish there were other reason for me to have surrendered my life to God, but then, I know that it was the only thing that could fling me to Jesus' feet - helpless and lost.
Regrets are a funny thing, aren't they? 4/27/2012 05:40:10 am
Wionderful post, Laura! I have been beating myself up over not witnessing publicly at a funeral when I had an opportunity to do so, thinking that I would be able to witness personally to a few family members afterwards. The latter opportunity never came, and I am truly sorry for not yielding to the Holy Spirit in His perfect timing. 4/27/2012 06:03:51 am
I have made a lot of mistakes with regrets too. To be honest, I should have listened to my wife and we could have avoided most of them. She tells me she has NO regrets because life must go on, and God has worked together good things for us. Still - - - I wonder? 4/27/2012 06:21:22 am
Everything 've been through has taught me something about G-d that no one can ever take away from me. 4/27/2012 09:15:40 am
There are many regrets in life, but there is no way to fix our mistakes now, only go on and try to make the best of things. God will give us grace and help in time of need.
Hi Laura! Oops! I was linking my husband's Sheep's Pen blog post and absentmindedly put it in under MY name - Miss Kathy! Sooo sorry! Really need to be on the game when I'm flitting about between our two blogs! Blessings to you and thanks for hosting to His glory! 4/27/2012 10:36:44 pm
What a great post! Any time I've gone against my God-given intuition, I've regretted it. I've learned to listen to the Holy Spirit's leading. Thanks for sharing! I've enjoyed the Judges devotionals.
How powerful -- thank you so much for sharing. 4/28/2012 12:58:08 am
Sometimes, it is through moments of great failure that we grow the most, learn the most. I don't think one person is the only hope for another's salvation. I think God used your regret moment in college to train you, to teach you - and that he had a seasoned soldier of God probably working in tandem with you. Your story, though, so encourages me to listen to that voice - and follow through. Leave a Reply. |
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