Breakfast with Tiffany & God

Oh the Lord has taught me soo much over the past couple months. I feel like I’ve been going through my own personal growth camp, and I don’t want it to stop! At the start of 2010 I embarked again on my journey and goal to read through the Old Testament. If you are trying to really grow in the Lord start reading the Old Testament, it is powerful! In addition I bought myself another journal (I love to journal) to be used solely for my quiet times. I write down the verses I read and what I learned. Highly encourage anyone & everyone to do this! You gain several things – you can really see that God speaks to you, when you are discouraged from not hearing His voice at times you can look back and be reminded that He does in fact speak to you, you can recall what you learned (that you walked away after reading and forgot), and sometimes several days of studying all seem to weave together forming a beautiful tapestry. Even now as I sat down to review what I would want to update my blog with (since I haven’t done so in months on my other blog/website) I have so much I would love to share, and so much I forgot that the Lord taught me!

First let me tell you that to write and put myself out there is a real struggle for me! It is way out of my personal comfort zone. I am not an excellent writer and my only heart’s desire is that it may encourage someone else, which then if I feel like I have not encouraged anyone I allow it to tear me up (something I’m learning about my own insecurities – another lesson for another time!)

So as I’m trying to decide what I want to share, I think I will have to choose a couple days of study.


Sunday April 11, 2010

2 Kings 4:1-7

I have been reading Bro. Bill Stafford’s book on spirit-filled giving and Sat (4/10) I was reading the chapter on the widow woman and the oil, this morning I just flipped open my Bible to 2 Kings 4 about the widow’s oil! So I was pretty sure I needed to read there. :) To recap the situation in case you have never read this story, which you really need to it’s so good, or if you haven’t read it in a while, the woman’s husband had died – hence widow woman. He left her with debt she could not pay, and the debtors were coming to take her sons to pay the debt and be used as servants. She calls on Elisha, the prophet, to help. She only had one vessel of oil left, and nothing else to her name. So at Elisha’s word, the widow woman goes & borrows empty vessels from her neighbors and she fills them with the oil from the one vessel she had until there are no more vessels to fill. She asks her son to bring her another empty vessel and he tells her there are no more, so then the remaining oil “stayed” or remained. To me this is in other words, the miracle was complete, the oil was no longer in “miracle mode”. She then at Elisha’s word, takes the oil and sells it to pay off her debt. This is what the Lord brought to life to me that morning, the amount of vessels that were filled with oil depended on the amount of vessels borrowed, which depended on her faith. Elisha, according to this chapter, didn’t tell her how many to gather specifically. He told her to gather empty vessels and "not just a few", but what if she would’ve only gathered a few vessels? What if she would’ve gathered more?? They lived “of the rest” – whatever was left over after paying her debts (verse 7). If she knew that the oil was going to go into miracle mode, and fill vessels and be multiplied, would she have gathered more empty vessels? How strong is your faith? How many vessels would you have gathered? God is not limited nor is His resources limited - we limit God. He can do anything and His supply is bountiful!! Wonder how much we miss out on because of our lack of faith in our unlimited God!!

I also see, and Bro. Bill touched on this in his book, that in verse 4 Elisha tells her to shut the door. What was done in private was shown in public afterwards. Sometimes there are things we need to keep between the Lord and us. He will glorify Himself through it. Goes back to another thing I studied months ago in Matt. 6:1-21 – there are three things we are to do privately: giving, praying, & fasting. All done in private will equal God rewarding in the open.

Lastly I learned that we are all empty vessels and the oil is the Holy Spirit ready to fill each one of us! God can fill as many empty vessels with the Holy Spirit and He doesn’t run out as long as there is an empty vessel to be filled! We need to be bringing those empty vessels to the Lord to be filled with the Holy Spirit!!


Tuesday April 13, 2010

Proverbs 12:9, 11:28, 13:7

I’ve been thinking how status is everything in our society, and “status” is determined by what kind of car you drive, home you live in, job you have, and clothes you buy & wear. What happened to seeing others for what is on the inside and not what is “appeared” to be on the outside? This morning I read Proverbs 12:9 “He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.” I had to read this verse a couple times to fully understand. This is what I found, since we (I say we) are all consumed with status even among our friendships, there are some that “honor” themselves to reach that status – yet lack bread. That could mean several things but to me this verse is saying that people, and I have done this, do this too, will spend all our money on ‘things’ – even going into debt – to keep up status, and then lack the essentials of living, food! The first part of the verse really stood out to me because someone could be rich, even have servants, yet only be lightly esteemed or even despised, but this person is better than the one that esteems or honors himself/herself to reach status among others and doesn’t even have money to buy themselves bread. I think a lot of American’s would fall into this ‘status’.

This also brought me to Proverbs 31:30, this verse has been on my heart so much lately “favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised”. Not only in riches or wealth do people try to reach a certain status, but women try to reach a status through favoring themselves or showing off their beauty or wealth. I know, all you ladies reading this are way more spiritual than me and don’t do this… ;) It’s vain ladies, a woman that’s beauty is on the inside fearing the Lord shall be praised!! May I stop looking around comparing myself to the beauty of other women or the status quo, but keep my eyes on Jesus and allow Him to create beauty, true beauty, within my heart!