Tag: Jeani Ransom

Sharing the Message

– So it will be Received

Old Testament: Leviticus 26 & 27

Poetry: Job 3

New Testament: Acts 17

Acts 17 is very inspiring to me. Paul and his companions are traveling talking to others about God and our savior Jesus. They persuaded some Jews as well as God-fearing Greeks and prominent women. This made others jealous, causing them to make trouble for Paul and the believers. Paul did not stop talking, they went on to another city.

The people in the next city received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (vs 11). I pray that we have the the same eagerness that I imagine they had. I envision them diving into the Scripture and asking questions, strengthening their relationship with God. Can you guess what happens next? Yep, more trouble and they move on to another city.

In Athens Paul was greatly distressed to find the city filled with idols. I wonder how distressed he would be if he were to see the world as it is now. I know the Bible says there is nothing new under the sun and I don’t doubt that, but it seems that we have more to direct our attention away from God. We have more “things” to distract us from Him. I think that God had a plan with our reading today because Acts warns us about idols and so does Leviticus. Chapter 26:1 says “Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.” We need to be very careful of what we worship and keep God at the center of it. 

Going back to Paul’s journey, he spoke about the Messiah all over the city. Some people became followers and believed. We need to continue to speak out to others about our faith. I am not saying that we need stand on the rooftops and scream at the top of our lungs, but I am saying that we need to live each day with God in our hearts. People should be able to tell that we are followers of Christ by the way we act. If someone comes to us with something, do not hide our faith but share our love of God with others so they can have a relationship with Him as well. Who knows, you may inspire them to speak out as well.

-Jeani Ransom

Reflection Questions:

Do you have eagerness to learn and study the Scriptures?

Do you have any idols in your life?

If so, how can you remove them?

How can you share your faith with others?

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Giving God the Best – Even our Rest

Old Testament: Leviticus 22 & 23

Poetry: Job 1

New Testament: Acts 15

Today we had several scriptures on our journey to read through the Bible in a year. The ones that resonated in my heart were from Leviticus 22 and 23. Chapter 22 talks a lot about sacrifices, being clean for them and what you are able to sacrifice. What comes to mind for me at first is that God wants our best. He lays out the things that need to be done in order to come before Him.

The scripture also tells us what can be sacrificed – and what can not be sacrificed. It says in 22:19 & 20 “you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.” This makes me think of when I buy fruit or veggies at the grocery store, I stand in front of the strawberries looking for the best container I can get, no mold, nice and red, not soft and squishy, the best. God wants our best, unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to give him our best. We work or go to school all day, do homework, laundry, cook dinner…and the list goes on and on. The beauty of this is that Jesus died for us, we don’t have to be perfect to come to God. We just need to be children of God, have a relationship with Him, love Him and then love others. We should try to give Him our best, but we will fail (at least I do) and that is okay. We just need to keep trying.  

Leviticus 23 talks about Festivals. The thing that stuck out to me was verse 3 “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.” During each of the festivals mentioned rest is a big part of it. Making sure you take the sabbath day to rest. The rest He is speaking about is not a nap. Although I love naps, and I think they are a great thing to do, He is speaking about resting in Him. Spend time with God. I will be honest with you; this is something that I need to work on. First,I need to slow down and rest, but most importantly, I need to rest in Him. Taking some time to stop your day to give your brain a break is great but are you giving Him your time?

-Jeani Ransom

Reflection Questions

What can you do to bring your best to God?

What does sabbath rest mean to you?

How do you rest in God?

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My Mouth is Filled with Your Praise

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 24 & 25

*Psalms Reading: Psalm 71

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 8

As I began reading Psalm 71 I immediately took to heart the first sentence, “In you, LORD, I have taken refuge.” How many times do we have troubles and look to things other then God? We look to our friends, our families, sometimes video games, sugar, so many things when our first response should be to look to God. Our writer goes on to ask God to be his rock of refuge, to which I can always go. We can go to Him anytime day or night. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because something is bothering me. While I know my husband would not get upset if I woke him, it is not something I want to do. But guess what, God is there! He is always with us.

The Psalm goes on to ask about not casting him away when he is old, not forsaking him when his strength is gone. He asks God for help. He says he will always have hope and he will praise God more and more. He will tell of his saving acts all day long. He will praise Him with the harp, the lyre, his lips and his tongue. The writer of this Psalm really knew that God is AMAZING!

All of this made me think of a few things. First, as I said earlier, God is aways with us. I have a great support system and God has put wonderful people in my life to help me navigate the craziness of this world but do I put God aside and try everything else first and then go to Him? I know I do sometimes, then I realize I should have gone to Him first. Many times when I go to him first, he puts the right help in front of me to navigate my problem and sometimes he tells me I just need to wait on it.

Second, when he is talking about his enemies, I think of the enemies that are trying to take us away from God. They will stop at nothing to tear us from the love of God. Verse 4 says “Deliver me, my God from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.”  We need to stand firm in our faith, seek God, spend time in His word, and be careful that we don’t get pulled away. It is so easy to walk away, to spend time away from God. We need to be purposeful in our walk with Him so we are not tempted to walk away.

Lastly, he is praising God. We need to praise God for all he has given us. My husband says he is part of the joyful noise club. I am too, I don’t have a beautiful voice but the Bible doesn’t say we have to have a beautiful voice, it says to make a joyful noise. It also doesn’t say we need to be Bible scholars to speak his word or tell others of the great things He does. Verse 17 says, “I declare your marvelous deeds.”  Go out and declare His marvelous deeds in your life.

-Jeani Ransom

Questions for reflection:

  1. How do you take refuge in God? Do you seek others first or God first?
  2. How can you show your praise to Him today?
  3. What marvelous deeds has He done for you? Who can you share them with?
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