I enjoy reading the Bible, but sometimes it’s hard to know if I am reading it for you, a friend, or myself.
Choke.
It’s always for me!
I don’t go to the Word to prepare to teach, pray, speak, or share. I go to the Word to be refined.
Some people think that they’re called to point out all your faults. They point you to the Word to show you where you fall short or are religious or how you do EVERYTHING under the sun WRONG! They have a spiritual gift used wrongly.
I have been this girl. My passion made me ugly, judgmental, and harsh toward other brothers and sisters. There’s no fruit in this.
Like I said, I love studying the Word—word by word with my husband or just listening to whole books every day. One day, I was listening to this song I found after I had read all of Matthew.
One line in particular PINCHED me—ouch! Wow. Pain. It was literally like God’s Word through Misty Edwards penetrated me and divided my soul; it judged my thoughts and the attitude of my heart.
OUCH.
I don’t say this with joy. It’s not easy to unveil to the world the struggle, but the struggle is REAL, people.
Here is the line:
“They’ve been building a ministry, planning and scheming in all of the things,But they forgot reality, relationship.”
We can be so busy working, planning, doing, chauffeuring, running errands, cooking, and talking to friends that we QUITE LITERALLY FORGET ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
What?!
When I am pierced like this, I stop!
“Father, have I been so busy working for You that I have lifted idols above You?”
He is faithful to draw near and to forgive us, even before we ask.
What have you placed above your Father? What idols do you have? Maybe your school, your children, your spouse, your friends, money, things? What is it for you? Ask God today:
“Father, have I been so busy working for You that I have lifted idols above You?”
Love,
Sheri
The Kingdom of Heaven will be likened unto ten virgins, in that day
In that day.
All of them are waiting for the Bridegroom,
All of them are waiting and waiting and waiting
All of them have lamps and they’re waiting and waiting and waiting, waiting and waiting
In the mundane, mundane, mundane, mundane
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting…
And when the night falls, they fall asleep
Each and every one of them, they fall asleep.
In the mundane, mundane, mundane
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting for the Bridegroom
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, and they fall asleep.
In the midnight hour, in the deepest, darkest hour of history,
In the midnight hour.
For behold a deep, deep darkness will cover the earth.
In the midnight hour of history,
It will be the darkest hour of history, of history.
A deep darkness will cover the earth.
Like a dark, dark darkness that could even be heard.
And a deep, deep darkness will cover the earth.
A cry, a cry, a cry…
Behold the Bridegroom, go out to meet Him.
Behold the Bridegroom, go out to meet Him.
Behold the Bridegroom, go out to meet Him.
Behold the Bridegroom.
Awake, awake, oh sleepers, awake, awake, the hour is here,
Awake, awake, oh sleepers, and behold,
In the middle of the night a cry will be heard.
They’ll be scurrying around into the streets,
They’ll be shining their lamps, going out to meet Him, going out to meet Him.
It’s the day, it’s the day, it’s the day that they’ve been waiting for
The day that they’ve been waiting for, the wedding is just around the corner now
Just around the corner now.
And they’ll be running around, scurrying around, getting ready to go out
Finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally.
And in that day, in that day, in that day,
Five, five will be wise and five, five will be foolish.
Wisdom and folly defined by the Master
Wisdom and folly defined, defined, defined.
For the foolish, so busy shining their lamps, forgot to get the oil.
And the clock now, now, now is ticking, it’s ticking,
And the clock now, now, now is ticking, it’s ticking
And it’s the middle of the night and the cry has been resounding
And now they’re scurrying around, round, round.
But they have no oil.
So preoccupied, so preoccupied.
They’ve been building a ministry, planning and scheming in all of the things,
But they forgot reality, relationship,
They forgot to get the oil on the inside of the lamp.
For the oil comes from the inside out and they forgot it.
Now like empty, empty tombs they forgot it.
For even though they slept, their hearts were awake.
They didn’t get weighed down by the mundane or distracted by the lamps.
They had the first things, first things, first things, first.
They had oil from the inside out.
O help us, help us!
Give us some of your reality, give us some of your intimacy
Give us some of the oil in your lamp,
But it doesn’t work that way. It can’t work that way.
And the five who are wise will say to the foolish,
Go buy oil for yourself, you have to take the time to know Him for yourself
They say, go buy oil, I counsel you buy it now
Go buy oil, I cannot give it to you
You have to go buy oil for yourself, I cannot give you mine
For only what is real will burn inside, burn inside.
Oh, but the five who are foolish will cry.
So I tell you now, while there’s still time,
Go buy oil before it’s too late.
I counsel you now, you have a name that you’re alive, but you’re dead on the inside.
So I counsel you, buy gold, refined in the fire.
For you have a lamp that you’re alive, but you’re dead in the inside.
But there’s still time, just a little bit, only a little bit of time.
What are you gonna do with that time, with that time, with that time, with the time?
Time, time, time is ticking by, and the Bridegroom is coming, He’s coming, He’s coming,
Are you ready to meet Him, to meet Him, to meet Him?
Will you even recognise Him?
So I tell you now, go buy oil,
I counsel you, buy gold, refined by the fire.
Take the time to live from the inside out.
Take the time to be acquainted with the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Take the time to buy oil before it’s too late.
For wisdom will be justified, wisdom will be justified.
In that day, in that day, in that day.
sheriyates.com 