I must admit that my initial reaction to predictions of impending doom and gloom is one of hoarding/stocking up on necessities of life like beans, rice, sugar and toilet paper.  Perhaps it's the "control freak" in me that desires to assert even a tiny portion of control over cirucumstances that are completely out of my hands.

While I believe that God would want us to be responsible and forward-thinking in the care of our families, we need to balance that with a strong faith in Jehovah-Jireh, our God who promises to provide all that we truly need.

And even more importantly, in times like this, the most valuable commodity that we need to stock up on is God's Word.  "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God".  His Word provides stability when everything in the world is coming apart at the seams.  It is an oasis of peace in the midst of stormy, turbulent circumstances.  The Bible provides us with knowledge of the sovereign God, who truly has "the whole world in his hands".  It is a source of wisdom for the choices of our daily life in a world where ethics have became situational; God's standards are unchanging.  His Word gives us the courage to live a counter-cultural life.

So, in all of our Emergency Preparedness, let's make sure we don't forget that which is even more necessary to us than food and water -- God's Word.

Here is a site that includes a great plan for commiting Scripture passages to memory.  It's designed for children, but I have been using it successfully:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/

And here is a site that offers some great free Bible studies that are doctrinally sound.  They also offer a lot of free literature for the asking, so make sure you look around their site while you are there:

http://www.mountzion.org/

Please comment & tell me what passage of Scripture you're going to start working towards memorizing.  I am currently working on 1 John .... I've got quite a ways to go.

And, comment & tell me what Bible study you are going to start doing, or are already in the process of completing.  I've jumped in with both feet, realizing that I've been neglecting serious study of His Word, and have decided to set aside my Seeking Him study for the time being to join a Precepts study that has just started at our church ... it's on the life of Abraham.  I also bought the book for the other study that the ladies of our church are working on -- a study of the book of Proverbs by Sue Edwards.

May I just preface this post by saying that this must be a message that God is really wanting me to understand and to post for others to read because this is actually the third time that I've tried to type it.  The first two times, I got a significant amount of the post typed up, and then somehow managed to delete the entire thing.  This time I'm going to save as draft periodically so this is the last time I have to type it!! 

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I'm sure that most of us are familiar with the Proverb, " Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18), but have you ever given much thought to why God so detests pride, and how this sin might be manifesting itself in your life?

I have been working through a Bible study by Nancy Leigh DeMoss called Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival (which I highly recommend), and have been thinking a lot about these questions the last few days.  I've come to realize that much of what I viewed as character strengths in my life -- my independence, my organization and desire to have everything under control, etc. -- were actually manifestations of the sin God repeatedly states that He hates throughout His Word.  What a humbling, but necessary, experience this has been.

I am truly a daughter of Eve, and not much has changed since the Garden of Eden.  Back then, Satan's temptation was the same as we face today.  Eve could usurp God's authority in her life, 'becoming like God' and essentially calling her own shots.  She, like us, was tempted to set up a rival god -- the god of self.  Pride = Idolatry and this is why it is so abhorrent to God.

What does this look like in my life?  It is pride:

*that insists on my own rights & what I think I deserve

*that refuses to submit to my husband, ultimately refusing to place my trust in the god who placed him in a position of leadership over me

*that proceeds with my day without seeking God's direction or merely asking Him to bless the plans I've already made for myself without His input

*that gets defensive when my faults, weaknesses & sins are exposed

*that gets angry with my childrens' misbehavior because it shatters my image of 'being in control' or because it makes me look bad in front of others

*that expects God to answer my prayers in the way I expect and in my time frame

"The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride.  Unchastity, greed, drunkeness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:  Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."  C.S. Lewis

"If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think tell him the first step.  The first step is to realize that one is proud... If you think you're not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." C.S. Lewis

What, then, is required to draw near to God?  I must have a humble and contrite spirit, which acknowledges my sinfulness and my utter dependence upon Him for every breath that I take.  I must have a teachable heart which is submitted wholly to Him.  Without such humility, I cannot draw near to Him, or experience His peace or revival in my life. 

"For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

'I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the hearts of the contrite.'" (Isaiah 57:15)

Lord, I never really realized before how filled with pride I am -- and how abhorrent that is to you.  What to me had always seemed like a strenth is instead what you hate the most.  In my own foolishness I have set myself up as my own god, following my own will, desires and so-called 'wisdom'.  I have been guilty, therefore, not only of pride but idolatry as well. 

Lord, I want an intimate relationship with you more than I want to continue calling my own shots.  From this day forward, please help me to continually seek you, depend wholly upon you, and walk in your will and your ways instead of my own.  Amen.

"A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God: of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom."  Jonathan Edwards

Note: If you would like some more questions for self-examination regarding pride in your life, see Nancy Leigh Demoss' 41 Questions that reveal pride issues in your life here:

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/topics/downloads/index.php?id=9496

I was going to post about New Year's Resolutions, but as I thought through what I wanted to say I realized that a fellow blogger whom I "know" and love has said it so much better than I every could.  Her post about New Year's Resolutions was a blessing for me to read last year, and to look at again this year.  I must confess that I fell woefully short of the standard and goal she laid out, but I  hope to keep it before me throughout this year instead of forgetting about it after we're 2 weeks into the New Year.  Here is the link to her entry: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MrsE/461631/

Make sure you read some of her other soul-searching entries while you're there.  I'm sure you will be blessed by them as I always am.

Happy New Year!