So, I started writing this really fabulous post yesterday. It was a big bloggy topic and the more I wrote the MORE I WROTE. It was just so long it could have been a 10-part series. And I felt bad throwing it on you. It was too heavy. And had too much information. I am definitley in the the-more-words-the-better when it comes to reading novels, but I think I may need to work on reducing my words when it comes to blog posts.

*whew*

Anywhoo. In an effort to be LESS long-winded and focusing LESS on MY words, here are the…

TOP TEN SCRIPTURES I’VE BEEN READING, THINKING ABOUT OR JUST LIKING LATELY

1. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Speaking of which: Look at the FREE DOWNLOAD of this print that Naptime Diaries made for Impress Your Kids? Go get one!

2. Deuteronomy 8:3

“…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

3. 1 Samuel 2:1-10

I’m not going to put the whole scripture here because it’s kinda long, but it’s the prayer Hannah prays after Samuel is born and she is going to send him to the temple to live. Such a beautiful song of praise during a heart-wrenching time. Worth a read!

(I’ve been reading the Savoring Living Water ebook and this scripture was in Chapter 3 about prayer. GOOD STUFF.)

4. Isaiah 58:8

Your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

The speed and movement in this verse astounds me!

5. Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

This is the memory verse for the preschoolers at church this month. It’s also from my favorite chapter in the Bible. We even have special shirts at church this month that say, “God made me FANTASTIC!”

6. John 3:30

He must become greater; I must become less.

After my Jimmy Needham post yesterday and Lisa-Jo’s post yesterday, I can’t get this verse out of my mind.

7. Psalm 103:2-3

Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

That just about covers it, doesn’t it? Body and soul—whole, complete.

8. Genesis 2

This is the account of God creating Adam and Eve. He FORMED them with His own hands. He didn’t call them forth the way He did the sun, the animals and the plants. He crafted them. Psalm 139 (above) also tells us that he KNIT us together in our mother’s womb. Wow. God piecing us together. He knows us intimately!

9. 1 Timothy 4:12

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

This is the verse the kids and I are learning right now. We’re working on learning HOW to be an example of each thing mentioned. It’s a big job!

10. What verse has God been speaking to you about lately?

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Link up your Top Ten list and join in the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun! All you have to do is WRITE a top ten list, PASTE it  below, LINK back to me in your post & then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with facebook likes, stumbles, comments and tweets! For better and more succinct guidelines see my Top Ten {Tuesday} page!

Not My Words: Top Ten {Tuesday} is a post from: ohamanda.com

Have you ever heard of Matthew? Like Matthew, Mark & Luke? Saint Matthew? He wrote an account of Jesus’ life. And the way he started this account was with a genealogy. Yeah, those lists of families that bore people away from the Bible. Well, this genealogy is worth reading. Usually genealogies are a list of men. This list includes 4 women. Four women that were…well, questionable. One was a prostitute, one slept with her father-in-law, one was an enemy of the Jews and the other was an adulterous woman. And these women brought Jesus’ line into the world. See for yourself…

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah…
Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Isn’t that weird? At church, we’ve already started a big Christmas series. Our pastor is going to talk about these unexpected women over the next few weeks. (Hello Racy for Christmas!) This week he talked about WHY Matthew would have included these women in the first place. What’s the point? Wouldn’t it kind of put a damper on Jesus’ holiness to be associated with these women?

Well, that was kind of the point. Matthew was a bad dude himself. He was a traitor to the Jews by being a tax collector. And when he decided to follow Jesus they were having a party at Matthew’s house. And who came to the party? “Sinners” and other tax collectors. The Jewish leaders were so out of sorts they said, “Why is Jesus hanging out with this scum?”

And Jesus rocks it by saying, “It’s not the healthy that need a doctor.”. Yeah, those people were sick with sin. But what was Jesus doing? Making them be like the religious leaders? Demanding perfection? Nope. He was having a party. He was hanging with them. Loving them. Honoring them.

This holiday season I’m thankful for the fact that Jesus gives mercy and doesn’t demand my sacrifice. He was my sacrifice when He died on the cross for me. It’s not about what I CAN DO for Him. It’s about what HE DID FOR ME.

Matthew, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and I are sinners included in Jesus family because of His mercy and love. Not because of something we did or gave up. Thank you, Jesus for loving me! For counting me worthy of your sacrifice!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Jesus’ Genealogy: A Christmas Story is a post from: ohamanda.com

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
I long, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young
at a place near your altar,
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!
What joy for those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.

What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,
who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs.
The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.
They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Jacob.

O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!
Show favor to the one you have anointed.
A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right.
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
what joy for those who trust in you.

Psalm 84 New Living Translation

Our Sun & Our Shield! is a post from: ohamanda.com