Sweeter than Honey: Week 1

I don't really like to admit it, but I'm going to. Authenticity, right?

Reading the Bible is something I've never done well. 

There. I said it.

It hasn't been a priority, it confuses me sometimes, sometimes it makes me a frustrated. Sometimes it makes me overwhelmed or bored. It's hard.

But!

That doesn't mean that it's not important.

For the next few months, I'll be working on this vital (and so often, missing) part of my spiritual life. Of my daily life. Of my this-is-being-human life.

I'm inviting you along for the journey.



If you've signed up for Sweeter than Honey, you should have gotten an e-mail on Saturday with the reading list for the week.

(If you haven't signed up, you didn't get that e-mail. But! you can sign up here to get next week's e-mail!)

I'm a visual learner, and it helps me to kind of get a feel for what something looks like if I'm going to do it well.

So, I thought that I'd share just a little bit of my own personal study this week. Remember, the point is to seek God's face, to find His heart, and to know Him better.

Monday: 

Psalm 139:1-2

The first step I take is writing down the verse. By hand. Because the physical act of writing down the verse helps it to connect with my brain (one of the reasons I use a paper planner.)

Often, I find myself rushing through a verse (read it, done it, been there, whatever) and slowing down to write it out helps me to contemplate better. To absorb better. To be in it.

Next, I write down surface observations- the quick things that come into my mind. If I don't have any, I don't write 'em down. No fuss.

Then, I make the transition to application, or to writing what the verse means about God, what it means about me.

And then comes prayer. In many cases, I use this part to pray about the thing I've read- for God to help me tame my tongue, or for forgiveness for a conviction the Holy Spirit has shown me. In this case, I'm simply praying God's Word back to Him.

In some ways, this is very similar to the adorations that Sara Hagerty talks about. Recounting who God is helps me to know who I am. It helps me to get my mind off of me, and upward to Him.


So, let's look at what I meditated on for Monday:


"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar."

Observations: 

God has actively searched me
Sitting, Rising, Thinking- God knows me internally and externally- what I do, what I think, and who I am. 

Applications: 

God values me and knows me intimately- I can have a real, close, intimate relationship with God, and that's what He desires. 

Prayer: 

God, You know my innermost parts. You actively search me and You know me completely. Please help me to seek You and find relationship with You. I want to know You more with each passing day. Thank You for still loving me even when my thoughts are unlovely, or when I try to hide from Your presence. Your knowing me has nothing to do with my actions or how "good" I am, but with how good Your are. Thank You for wanting a relationship with me. 

As you can see from the pictures (which are not great, I realize), and the fact that my handwriting is awful, I'm working on the "authentic" side of things. If I can do this, imperfectly and not beautifully, so can you.

Really.

You're not writing a thesis- you're simply coming to seek the heart of God.


After almost a week of early-morning reading and adoring, I'm growing. This is making a difference in my life. Remembering who He is, and who I am, and immersing myself in the Word is making a difference.

I'd love to invite you along for the journey.

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