Verbs: The Actions Of God's Word

Action words are powerful words. They describe what we do, from running and jumping to studying and learning. Verbs paint a picture of the movement in the constant motion of our day.

Some of us use more verbs than others. Instead of sitting and relaxing, we're cooking, cleaning, errand-running, working, building and creating. Sound like some familiar action words in your own life?

Paul knew all about verbs. He fills his letters to the various churches with words that spurred action. He wanted to encourage other believers to get up and do something, and it was always personal and specific.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Colossians 1:9-13

Look at all those verbs: pray, fill, walk, fruitful, work, increase, strengthen, give, deliver and translate. This is a very busy, action-filled passage of Scripture! No sitting around watching soap operas and eating bonbons.


But look closer. Some of these are our actions, but many are God's. We're called to do many things in our Christian lives, and they're pretty specific, but we're also told everything God is doing in our lives as well. It would be to our benefit to know which are our verbs and which are God's.


Us: praying, walking, being fruitful, increasing in knowledge and giving thanks. It's our responsibility to spend time in prayer, walk in obedience to the Lord, bring forth spiritual fruit, study His word and respond with all the thanksgiving that is in us.


God: fill His followers with knowledge, strengthen us, show His glorious power, make us partakers of the inheritance, deliver us from the power of darkness and translate us to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.


When we break down Scripture, in this case looking at verbs, it's so clear to see and understand what God is asking from us. He wants us to know exactly what He expects from believers - He doesn't play games and He doesn't hide His will. 


As we read our Bibles this week, let's look for verbs. Let's learn what actions God wants us to do and what He promises He'll do for us. That's a whole lot of action to look forward to in the next seven days. Can you keep up?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet...
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee...
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit...
Read more