Putting Fear into Perspective

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:19

A funny thing happened last night.  It started yesterday when Scott and I were looking for a new fish tank and stand for our apartment.  We found one, but Scott wanted to wait to get it and I was going to price them online.  I found a perfect on on eBay and used the “Buy It Now” feature.  What I didn’t see was that it was for local pick-up only.  This is eBay, who does that???  Anyway, since I wasn’t able to make a road trip out to Los Angeles any time soon, I had to contact the seller and explain my mistake.

fear not, for I am with you;
    be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
~ Isaiah 41:10

Meanwhile, the worry and fretting over the whole request for refund ate at me.  Me, who has been a rock during the craziness of us selling our home (3 TIMES!).  Me, who trusts that God has the house-thing under control.  Really?  I was worried over $109 when we have an over $100K transaction pending with the sale of the house.

So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
~ Hebrews 13:6

Who am I to trust God for the big thing (house), but not trust Him to handle the little ones (fish tank stand)?  Stupid.  I slept terribly, having dreams that were all based around this worry that I went to bed with.

do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t you know, I woke up at 6 AM to get ready for church and I checked my email and the seller had responded graciously.  He asked me to file a formal request on eBay for a cancellation of the transaction and that he would refund the money and all would be right with the world.  Easy-peasy.  And I lost sleep over it.  So, I’m reminded of my favorite Bible verse:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Book Review: The Voice Bible (Kindle format)

2/20/2012:  I received an email from a public relations person at Thomas Nelson Bible Group in response to this post.  They are going to send me a copy of The Voice  Bible in book form for me to review.

3/27/2012:  I have not received my book as yet.

I was very excited to be able to read “The Voice Bible” on my Kindle.  I ran into all sorts of problems in trying to do so.

1.    The introduction was almost too wordy with explanations.
2.    The format of the book didn’t translate to Kindle format at all.  Verses were interspersed with other verses (17, 18, 19, 31, 32, 33, 34, 20, etc), the notes broke up the reading format.  It was all very confusing and I had to give up in trying to read it because every book was the same way.
3.    Seems like it might be a good book for a Bible beginner because it explains things hat people who read the Bible take for granted.
4.    You can’t navigate by book or chapter with the Kindle so I was stuck going page by page to get anywhere.
5.    There were good introductions to each book.
6.    In the speaking format, God is called “Voice”.  I think God should be called God.

This might be a good book to read in book format, but in Kindle format, not so much.  I would have liked to investigate it more, but I was unable to due to the problems I mentioned.

Life Application Study Bible Giveaway on Facebook!

I wanted to let you know about a great giveaway happening over at the New Living Translation Facebook page.

Here are the NLT Facebook page giveaway details:

Starting on November 29^th until December 24^th at the New Living Translation Facebook page they’re giving away lots of great prizes.

By visiting the giveaway entry page (located on the NLT Facebook page, the link is under the profile picture) and entering your name and e-mail address you’ll be entered to win the following prizes:

• One random person each day will win a Life Application Study Bible Family Pack (Guys Life Application Study Bible, Girls Life Application Study Bible, Student’s Life Application Study Bible, Life Application Study Bible, Life Application Study Bible Large Print).
• One Random person each week will win an Apple iPad 2!

Everyone that signs up gets a free download copy of the Life Application Bible Study – Book of Luke!

I strongly recommend the NLT Life Application Study Bible.  I have found it to be the easiest translation to read and understand.  I’ve been told that the translation is very close to the original writings as far as the meanings of words.  So, if you’d like to try to win some Bibles and an iPad 2, please sign up on their Facebook page.