Revelation 22:19 (NASB)
19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

We all have favorite verses from the Bible. There are those that just speak to us, give us comfort, or bring alive the Gospel in our lives. We like to read those verses over and over, pray over them, meditate on them, and recite them from memory.

But what about the verses that, if we had our wishes, God would have just left out of the Bible. You know them. We all have verses like that. We avoid them, avoid thinking about them, but often the Holy Spirit brings them up in our minds.

Those verses that we don’t like were put there by God just for us. For you and for me. Those are the verses that we need to focus on, to pray about, to meditate on earnestly, to learn what God has to say to us. And when we do, they become our favorite. Well, maybe not at first, but if we are persistent and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, they will in time.

What verses in the Bible don’t you like? If you have one or more, respond to the blog and let me know what they are. It could be that they are verses that I have avoided and now God wants me to learn from them too.

Heavenly Father, I praise You for the entirety of the Bible. The wisdom that You have provided is perfect. I thank You for the verses that were put there just for me. I pray that You would help me to understand and to love the ones that trouble me. I pray this in the matchless name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Jeremiah 31:3 (NASB)
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

1 John 4:16 (NASB)
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:18-19 (NASB)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19 We love, because He first loved us.

Transcendent – (of God) existing apart from and not subject to the limitations of the material universe.

Imminent – at hand, close, near.

When troubling times are upon you, do you sometimes feel that God is absent from your life? Does it appear that prayers are not heard? That prayers are not answered?

Of the many attributes of God, we know from scripture that He is at the same time transcendent and imminent. He exists in a way that is not possible for us to understand, yet He is always near. And He loved us first.

There is no need to fear, for He is with us at all times. Even when we can’t feel His presence.

Father, forgive me when I fail to pray when your presence is not felt. Forgive me when I don’t feel your love. Forgive me when my faith feels weak. Forgive me when I replace love with fear. Forgive me when I don’t trust You and attempt to rely on my own ways. I confess these things in the name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,