Psalm 32 | Wednesday Bible Study

Welcome back to Bible Study Wednesday! Before we start our Bible study together, I wanted to make a couple of announcements. First of all, today is my baby boy's 15TH birthday! Wow! My brother and I were talking today about where has the time gone! He used to get off work in the wee hours of the morning and take care of Javan so I could sleep for a few hours. It was pretty brutal in the beginning and I am so thankful for his love and care for my newborn. Javan is so much like my brother it is actually a little scary! But I am thankful for my brother and my baby boy, who is not a baby any longer but he will always be my baby!

He loves to go fishing and this summer he did quite a bit of that with his daddy while he recovered from surgery. It was really nice to see him do something fun near the water since he couldn't get in. Paul and I picked out his birthday cake and it was just a lot of fun to surprise him with this particular cake! He loved it!

In other, not so exciting news, I have injured myself. It happened on Saturday and it hurt quite a bit, but I just went on about my day. Sunday I missed church. I could hardly get out of bed, but I figured maybe I had slept wrong. I watched church online and getting out of bed was a chore! I did not put the injury Saturday afternoon together with the Sunday morning aches and pains. I got worse as the day went on. Monday I could hardly walk and I had to cancel my training for Tuesday at my new job. I was really disappointed but I could not even stand up straight.

I made an appointment with my chiropractor and he got me in Tuesday. Paul helped me from the vehicle to the office and then I literally was wheeled out in a wheelchair. The pain has been excruciating. I felt a little better Tuesday afternoon and was able to lay on some ice and take some anti-inflammatory medication and rest. My doctor said no work for me the rest of this week. I was back in there today for more therapy. I was walking a little better, but still require assistance and cannot stand up straight. It is all I can do to walk to the car and then back inside. I have an appointment tomorrow and another on Friday. I am hoping to be back to walking upright and without the pain on Tuesday and throughout the week next week. Please say a prayer for me.
 

If you have been with me on this journey this year, you know God pressed upon my heart to study the book of Psalms. Each Wednesday we take a closer look at a new chapter. Today we are going to chapter 32. If you have not done so, please take the time to read through these 11 verses. I will be sharing some thoughts about today's passage and break down this chapter below. Please pray and ask Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and ears to receive everything He has to teach you in today's passage. Let's begin!

Verses 1-2

Did you ever think of how blessed we are to have our sins forgiven? Our sins are covered by the precious blood of Jesus Christ if we have been saved by His mercy and grace. We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb if we have surrendered our lives to Him, confessed our sins, and asked Jesus to be the Lord of our life.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Friends, we are reconciled to God, our Heavenly Father, through the blood of Jesus and His work on the cross. That is why we are blessed! That is a reason to rejoice. Our sins are wiped away and He will blot them out, never to remember them anymore.

Verses 3-5

David is having a hard time wrestling with his sin that is separating him from God. He has no peace. He has no pleasure. He is miserable. Sin causes us to live in a miserable state. Do you remember what David had done? He used his power and influence to have an affair with another man's wife. He got her pregnant and formed a plan to cover it up and look like it was Uriah's baby. Uriah was an honorable man and would not take the bait. He was a man of war and he would not leave the war and his men behind while he had pleasure with his wife. David ordered Uriah be put on the front lines and have the soldiers pull back which would end Uriah's life in the battle.

Think of all the work David did to hide his sin, but it did not work. He says there was a heaviness on him day and night. He could not sleep it off. He could not busy himself with the affairs of his kingdom. That sin was constantly gnawing at him. He knew he had messed up. He lost his strength. He was not the man he used to be and he could not even look at his own reflection.

2 SAMUEL 12:7-14 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee *such and such (much more) things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Now that we have looked back in time to that instance and we see how David was burdened and disconnected from God, we also see David's quick admittance that he was guilty. He acknowledged the sin without excusing it away. He was repentant and that is why God forgave him. When we admit our guilt and we do not wish to continue in that path, God forgives us, too. 1 JOHN 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am so thankful for this promise.

Verses 6-7

David gives us a prayer to pray when we need forgiveness and during a time when we need to find God. He says to pray:

Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto me. You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Then David asks us to Selah, or pause and wonder.

Isn't that fantastic? David is saying though our sins and troubles may seem overwhelming and like a flood of emotions washing over us, we can rest in the hiding place and be safe from trouble. The forgiveness of God will surround us with singing of our deliverance. What a beautiful picture of God's redeeming love, mercy, and grace for you and I.

Verses 8-9

In response to that prayer, God speaks to us as well. He says:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse, or the mule, who have no understanding. Their mouth must be held in with bit and bridle to control them. Do not be like that!

Friends, if we respond to the Lord as He leads us and guides us, we will walk in the paths He has created for us. He has already gone before us and the roads may be hard at times, but they build us and strengthen us to have more faith in Him. If we trust Him we will follow His lead. If we give in to fear or selfish ambitions we are like the stubborn horses and mules who must be forced to go where they would rather not. Let's follow along in obedience.

Verses 10-11

It's hard to disobey God. It may seem easy to follow the crowd and do what we want to do with no regard to what would please the Lord, but the lifestyle is hard. Do you remember the sorrow and torment David went through? Many sorrows will be felt by the wicked. The good news is when we trust and obey the Lord and do what we know is right and pleasing in His sight, we will have mercy surrounding us. That is a wonderful blessing!

David usually gives us instructions, or something to do -- a call to action, perhaps. The last verse of this beautiful chapter is telling us to be glad in the LORD. We are to rejoice and shout for joy. Get excited about what God is doing in your life. Great things are coming your way and it will overtake you! Another verse in Psalms comes to mind along these lines. It is one of my favorite scriptures.

PSALM 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

What a wonderful time in the Word this has been. I pray it has been a blessing to you. Lord willing, I will have a blog post up tomorrow sharing what I am thankful for, and some Biblical insight to think about throughout your weekend. As always, I hope that something you have read on the blog today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Carrot Cake | Fuel For The Weekend

Welcome to the weekend friends. It is my desire that today's post will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend. Just as we fuel up for the weekend in our automobiles, let's fuel up in the spirit.

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. I am making a carrot cake from scratch for her. She loves it and it makes me feel good to make a birthday cake for her. Have you thought about the ingredients though? The finished cake is delicious, but how would you feel if I served you a bowl of flour? What about a cup of oil? Some ingredients by themselves are not too bad, like cream cheese, butter, or powdered sugar. But I would not want to swallow a spoonful of baking soda, would you?

Sometimes life is like that, isn't it? Some moments are like a sweet taste of powdered sugar. Sometimes life is as awful as a spoonful of flour. The ingredients are important and each one must be measured precisely to give you a delicious dessert. God knows how much sweet and how much savory to give us in our lives to create the best outcome for our character and our inner being. If we only get sweet things and nothing of real substance, we will soon see decay in our lives, like the cavities we get on our teeth. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing. Similarly, too much salt can give us hypertension which is bad for our heart.

Friends, we can trust God to know how much of sorrow, grief, pain, loss, or disappointment we need. It may not be a welcomed feeling, but when we suffer with Christ we know that it comes with promise. 1 Peter 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. In other words, if you suffer for the wrong you do, there is no celebration. You should patiently take the punishment for wrong-doing. The real test of character comes from doing good things and suffering for that. If you take that with patience, it pleases God. 1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. We can rejoice in our suffering that is part of Christ's suffering because when His glory is revealed, imagine the joy we will feel in our hearts knowing we are part of that. The world hates us because it hated Him first. We bear His image and so we will not always have a bed of roses as our lot in life. We know that. It is the bitter and the sweet coming together.

We may feel like the temptations we face in life are unbearable, but God has always made a way out for us. Just like we know that eating too much cake or frosting is going to make us sick and we should not do it, facing these temptations is not good for us either. We can choose to have portion control with the cake and enjoy it but not over do it. We also can ask God to help us overcome these issues we face in life. 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. The things we are tempted with are things everyone faces in life at some point or another. The issue then is how much temptation can you endure? God makes a way for you to say no, to avoid the person/environment, so that you can escape the temptation. God does not tempt us but we do face situations where we can choose to indulge our flesh and sin, or walk away with God's help and stay in right standing with God.

What about that time you ate too much cake and felt bad about it later? Maybe you felt sick or your stomach hurt? That does happen. It tastes so good that we think, "Just one more bite, or one more slice." Sometimes we do things we know we shouldn't do and we think, "It won't hurt just this once." And then later we feel the pain and the regret that comes from giving our flesh what it wanted. We have all been there. Romans 3:21-26 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

I am going to share the Carrot Cake recipe I am using today. If you choose to make the cake, I hope you enjoy it. As we celebrate my mother-in-law on her birthday I hope she finds it delicious! Enjoy the sweet things in life in moderation friends and when the bitterness comes, remember if it is mixed with other ingredients, it will all turn out just fine. Allow God to orchestrate the events of your life and it will end up perfectly! Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.

I hope you enjoy your weekend. My prayer is that something you have read today has given you strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Thankful For My BFF | Thankful Thursday

Meet my beautiful blue eyed, brown haired best friend for ever and always! Her name is Heather Rose and she is my very closest friend. She knows way too much! Today is her birthday and I hope it is the most fantastic day ever. I thank God for her mother Cindy choosing life for this amazing woman of God. She is a threat to the enemy and she is the apple of God's eye.

Heather and I have been friends since we were kids. We grew up together. We went to Youth Group together. We studied the Bible together. We worked together. We went to Taco Bell together.... a lot! We enjoyed pie together....lots of delicious pie. It's our thing.

I love Heather's laugh. It is contagious and it seriously brings me joy even if she is laughing at me!! We laugh until we can hardly understand each other and then we laugh harder at that and when we see others staring at us, well it gets real. Tears are flowing and it is the best belly laughter ever. She makes me want to be better.

Heather has amazing handwriting. We wrote lots of letters back and forth. She sends me cards and she sends me SnapChat messages. We always have so much to share and why we think SnapChat is the best way to do that is beyond me, but we like it and it works, so who cares if we send tons of snaps at one time. There really needs to be longer allowances for what we have to share.

Heather gets me. She knows what has broken my heart, what has disappointed me. She has been there when my relatives died and she still prays for me when I tell her that I miss my dad. I wish she had a good dad to miss. Her mom is an amazing mother and father because she had to be both as a single momma and she rocked it! Her sister is so funny and I love their little family like I am another sister.

Proverbs 27:9 says Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. She is like sweet perfume to my soul. She gives me sound advice. We have had similar struggles in marriage, parenting, life, as Christians... and it is so good to hear her share Bible verses as she lovingly points me back to the cross. She is a great prayer warrior and she loves Jesus so I trust what she tells me and she gives me the encouragement I need to keep going. She takes 1 Thessalonians 5:11 seriously when we are told Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. She lives that out loud!

Psalms 133:1 says Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. It's true. She and I seldom argued. Even if we disagreed we heard each other out and we never let things come between us. She is miles and miles and states away from me but I can call or text her anytime and she is there for me and the distance never matters.

Heather is a hearer of the word and a doer. Romans 12:10 says Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. I love Heather to pieces and I know she loves me. We do want to show honor for each other. We cherish our friendship. Others come and go in our lives for a reason or a season but I am so glad God gave me Heather for a lifetime!

Ecclesiastes 4:9 says Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. I love doing life with Heather. She is the best friend anyone can have. I can share her with others a little but remember she is my friend first. Maybe I need to work on not being greedy....

I hope you all have a friend like Heather. In Galatians 6:2 it says Carry each other's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. I know that we don't do this perfectly, but I know that God has blessed me with a friend who helps me carry my burdens. Sometimes in the hardest seasons of our lives we were not able to be there in person for each other. God told me it was so we wouldn't make idols out of one another. He was training us to lean on Him and He allows us to help each other, too. 

Heather, I appreciate you so much. You are a treasure and I adore you. Happy birthday!!!! Love you bunches girlfriend. And many more......

Love,

Bridgett 

Happy Birthday Paul | Bible Study

Today my family and I celebrate and honor (my husband), (their father) Paul on his birthday! I have had the privilege to celebrate 20 times with this amazing man. Known by many as a gentle giant (6’ 4”), allow me to share who my husband really is.

Paul is a wonderful man. He goes out of his way to help others. If there is a need, he is quick to jump in. He is compassionate, favors the underdog, and always quick to encourage someone who feels down.

Paul is a loving father and devoted husband. He prays and then has faith to wait on God to work things out. He leads our family as God leads him. He teaches us the Scriptures and shows us how to rely on God.

Paul may seem like the perfect man from the way I describe him. He is human; and he has flaws but I choose to look beyond that to the many strengths he has. He helps at church with parking cars and does so with as much enthusiasm and excitement as he had when teaching youth. We have been in youth ministry and Kids’ Min. for two decades!!! He has served as greeter, even though he is shy. He has been an usher and collected the offering. He has been in security for more than one church. He has helped me teach little bitty kids up through teenagers and he always has a soft spot for kids and babies! 

Please help me celebrate this wonderful man of God. Wish him a happy birthday!!! I hope it begins and ends with blessings and joy!

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, to "Rejoice evermore." It says, "He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, Happy is he." Proverbs 16:20 "When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7 "I have found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go." Song of Solomon 3:4

God blessed me so much with a wonderful man to do life with. He is my very best friend. He is my leader, the priest of our household, and the one my soul loves. Thank You Jesus for giving him to me! Happy birthday Paul! I love you big ole stinkin’ bunches!

~Bridgett.... (Your Blue)