6-30 Day Thirty Three

Pretend to be surprised, I started my day in the Word and in Seven Stars. I finished Habakkuk! In case you were dying to hear my thoughts and notes, I've made an entire document (again). To summarize, Habakkuk is a reminder that while we cannot understand why God allows every evil or suffering, we can trust that He is perfectly just, sovereign, and faithful. We are not meant to have every answer, but to live by faith, knowing Christ has conquered sin and death on our behalf. 

For what may be the final time, my roommate Natalie and I visited Bonnie in the Christian Science Reading Room one more time. I've felt torn on the line between confronting people with the gospel and also loving them well. This was my fourth time having a conversation with her, so I felt as though I needed to speak more plainly and boldly. Natalie told her that the Bible and Christian Science cannot both be true because of the contradictions. I asked her what it would take for her to not be a Christian Scientist and instead be a Christian. She said there is absolutely nothing; she loves her faith. We did get to a point where Bonnie started to shut down and tell us we should talk about what life will look like after our trip. She felt that we were all at a wall where nobody was looking to budge. Bonnie has said this before, but "we are all on different paths, but heading in the same direction towards God." That just isn't true. She will continue to be in my prayers. It's so sad to see someone take the Bible, the true Word of God, and manipulate it. Mary Baker Eddy was just a woman, just as Joseph Smith was just a man; it's so sad that people put their faith and salvation in the words of man over God. 

Afterwards, we took some time to journal and prayer walk to process the conversation. 

Sacred City Summer tonight was over, "Pursuing God through pursuing work and time management." Work was created before the fall. It is not a result of sin, and to this day, God is always working. Being a faithful steward of time is always an area in which I have struggled. 

Proverbs 18:9 "One who is slack in his work is a brother to one who destroys." 

Laziness is a destroyer of self, CONVICTING. It is so easy to look at a busy schedule and to make excuses for being a sloth, for desiring to rest when it is not time to do so. That's also why there is the Sabbath! The Lord created rest; it is good. A connection I really enjoyed tonight was:

Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." 

By grace. Through faith. For good works. I have been pretty well acquainted with by grace, through faith, but extending it into the next verse has given more context, to fully extend to the Lord's will and desire for our life, to bring glory to Him in all that we do. Our faith produces faithful obedience; that's an awesome truth to have!