SSMT Verse Review Part 5

Well, I'm half-way finished with my verse review, and the SSMT Celebration (that's what they're calling it on Face Book) is rapidly approaching.  This attempt at reviewing my verses is actually helping me remember each passage, thank the Lord.  Here we go again.

SSMT Verse 13
I Corinthians 9:27 (NAS)-- I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

OUCH! This one (from July 1, 2011) HURTS!  I can't honestly say that my body is my slave; probably, the reverse is true.  This goes back to the previous entry about caving in to the desires of my taste buds while the my thighs, hips, rear, belly, and arms are pleading with me to resist.  Who is in control of whom?  OUCH! Dear Lord, LET THIS VERSE be TRUE of me!

 SSMT Verse 14
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NAS)--For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

This is the verse I chose to memorize for July 15, 2011.  I'm not sure what exactly was going on, but based on previous summers, I was probably experiencing a case of my usual summertime insanity.  I wasn't ready to go back to work, mind you, but I was probably dealing with some of the depression and loneliness that try to creep up on me during that time of year.  Phil is usually on the road quite a bit in June and July, the heat is usually unbearable, and I can usually invent several reasons why I should be feeling sorry for myself. 

If I'm not careful, the second half of my summer vacation can turn in to one big fear-infested pity party.  I can drive myself crazy with ideas that could possibly be true at some point in the future. I may imagine things that other people might say or do or think or plan to do, or I might even dwell on stories of situations that I heard other people went through that could become true for me and my family.  I can imagine arguments that have never taken place and then plan my own responses to those imaginary arguments.  I can work myself into a mental frenzy if I'm left alone for too long.  I don't desire to do this, but it happens.  (I'm starting to sound like I have multiple personalities or something.)

Anyway, these verses help me keep my head and heart clear of what is NOT true.  Most of the time, the flaming darts of Satan (Eph. 6:16) hit me in my thought life, so being able to recognize untrue thoughts that lead to anxiety, fear, anger, or depression has made SUCH a difference in my life.  Now when anxious thoughts begin to overwhelm me, I'm much quicker to run to my Abba Father for help, and I'm much quicker to open His Word to remind myself (and my enemy) of what is REALLY true. 

 SSMT Verse 15
Acts 26:18 (NAS) -- (I am sending you) to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

When I chose this verse for Aug. 1, 2011, we were prayerfully considering taking positions as youth workers at AGM.  I was also gearing up for another year at school, which meant new students and another year of preparing Bible lessons.  AND, Phil was preparing to travel to Hungary with Campus Crusade for Christ on his first international mission trip. When I read this verse, I made it our prayer that God would use us to do these things as we met our new youth, my new students, and the students Phil would meet in Hungary. 

The Bible tells us that the unsaved are blinded to the truth of the gospel and that men love the darknes rather than the light--that's why so many rejected and hated Jesus, the LIGHT of the world.  The truth of our own lostness and sinfulness and spiritual darkness isn't pleasant.  It's ugly and it's painful. Jesus didn't come to condemn the world, though, as John 3 tells us; He came so that the world--through HIM--might be saved.  As the Bible also says, the truth can make us free.  It will lead us from darkness into the glorious light of God's presence.  I still pray that God will use us to help others turn from darknes to light and from the dominion of Satan to God so they can know the joy of forgiveness and have a life-changing relationship with Him.

Even as I'm typing this, I'm thinking about an opportunity we will have in the next few days to share His life-giving light....use us, Lord, please....You be lifted high so others will be drawn to You.