I. Heart. The. Green. Book.

At the end of a tiring work week, and then a frustrating first few hours of budgeting, calculating, and more budgeting on Sunday morning...I came (back) across these consecutive gems from last week's Green Book Scripture readings:

THURSDAY: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)

FRIDAY: "Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand." -Mark 6:39-44 (NIV)

SATURDAY: "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."-Hebrews 4:9-11 (NIV)

Encouraging thoughts for the week, then:
1.) As a proud alumnus of Mingo Valley Christian School, I've recited Isaiah 40:31 about a hundred million times...but I forget how much I really, really love the verses that precede it, especially the Creator God's specific promises to strengthen the weary and empower the weak.

2.) If God can turn 5 loaves and 2 fish into dinner for 5,000+, surely he can be trusted with guardianship of our ministry (and personal) bank account(s). It's a good thing, too! :)

3.) No matter how real and pressing our human needs are, God always offers us a Sabbath-time and -place of spiritual and physical rest and refreshment...how we use (or misuse) it is up to us.

Amen!