Today’s Scripture
“I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:1–3 (NRSVUE)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalms 51:10 NKJV)
Yes, this is my rocking chair! And, yes, I love rocking! And, yes, front porch rocking is my favorite! And, reading my Bible and watching an ocean, the mountains, the garden and listening to the sounds of nature becomes, “Rock and Restore” to my soul!
I would like to share with you one of my favorite types of “Rock and Restore”:
7 BIBLE VERSES TO REMIND us THAT CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES;
- Galatians 6:7
- Proverbs 14:12
- Deuteronomy 30:19
- Proverbs 22:8
- Romans 6:23
- James 1:14–15
- Proverbs 1:31
“These seven Bible verses show that every choice has a result. God lets people choose their path, but He also lets them keep what that path brings.
Galatians 6:7
- The Verse: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
- The Meaning: You get back what you put out in life.
Proverbs 14:12
- The Verse: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
- The Meaning: Things that look good now can turn out very bad later.
Deuteronomy 30:19
- The Verse: “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
- The Meaning: God gives you a clear choice between good and bad results.
Proverbs 22:8
- The Verse: “Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod of their fury will be destroyed.”
- The Meaning: Mean acts bring pain back to the person who did them.
Romans 6:23
- The Verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- The Meaning: Bad choices pay out trouble, but God gives free life.
James 1:14–15
- The Verse: “But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
- The Meaning: Bad thoughts grow into bad actions, which end in hard results.
Proverbs 1:31
- The Verse: “Therefore they will eat the fruit of their way and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.”
- The Meaning: People have to live with the final fruit of their own plans.”
Now the book where we find these 7 actions and meaning is Titled, The Bible, and you might find a subtitle to The Bible, study Bible and various versions. You may have one well read by you! Then you surely can comment here and help with understanding even more. You may not have one but this quickens your memory to Grandma or Mother did and it’s packed away. Maybe you can find it and dust it off and read with us. The age dosent matter because the Bible, is God’s Word to us as well as Grandma or us or generations to come. Jesus said;
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
Read, “Rock and Restore”! Maybe you could join or start a Bible Book group in person, online in a church, home or coffee shoppe.
Maybe start with a prayer for wisdom. Keep in mind wisdom grows. So garden well from the seed of prayer to your next step.
“And yes, you (God) want truth in the most hidden places; you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.” (Psalms 51:6 CEB)
thedailylily.com 
“I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:1–3 (NRSVUE)”.
I appreciate how you start off us off, Sara, in your “Rock and Restore” study with a scripture that gets our focus on the Lord and His attributes, reminding us that it’s all about Him.
Having the list of scriptures and then the verses written out for further study and reflection helps imprint them on the mind. And especially helpful are the meanings you have provided for each verse. Thank you!
“Rock and Restore” tripped a switch in my memory to recall a day of study some of us participated in years ago with Sara’s retreat book, “The Dance of Healing, The “Ultra-Healing Spirit” comes from within”. Pulling out my book, I found that in the chapter, “The Dormancy in the Soil, Waiting on the Word”, you started us off with, “It’s time to Sit, Rock, and Hum: For “Truly Yahweh was in this place and I never knew it.”
We were given six scripture/songs with blanks to fill in and instructed to …”sing your Song for your New Dance…”. Sara encouraged us that doing so would do the following: “During the time of dormancy you are being connected to the Divine Sower of the seeds of your heart. As seed is sown in the soil, so too, are His secrets sown in your heart.” Sara then went on to teach us how this would waken emotions in us and help bring our healing; and that we were to, “Remember, Christ in us, our hope of glory. That “Our hope of glory is in knowing healing from The Healer, Christ-in-us-the Mystery hidden in ages past but now revealed to each of us.”
Here are the scriptures/songs and the blanks to fill in that we can find in the references:
Though I can’t always rock, I personally find help and ‘restoration’ in connecting scriptures and songs and humming or singing them. And I found this study, “Rock and Restore”, a great study to, “TO REMIND us THAT CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES;”
I received Gloria Gaither’s newsletter this am. I thought her explanation on various Bibles might be helpful to our blog and study. I like to share with you.
https://www.lovesongtomylife.com/blog/the-rhythm-of-grace
Love the rocking chair! This blog caused me to stop and think….. now, in this fast paced life, I sure do need to pause, rock, and restore. Our choices do indeed have consequences. I would like to share the footnotes for one of the about verses. Romans 6: 23 footnotes from the NLT says: “You are free to choose between two masters, but you are not free to adjust the consequences of your choice. Each of the two masters pays with his own kind of currency. The currency of sin is eternal death. That is all you can expect or hope for in life without God. Christ’s currency is eternal life— new life with God that begins on earth and continues forever with God. What choice have you made?”
Sara, thank you for sharing this much needed blog, and thank you Debi for sharing and reminding me of the information we were blessed to be able to participate in of at the retreat so many years ago. 🙏
Thank you for sharing Gloria Gaither’s newsletter, Sara. I found reading the backgrounds on the different translations so interesting. It gave me a greater appreciation of what translators, such as Tyndale, went through to bring the Word of God to people. And the price that so many paid for us to have these varied translations today. As Gloria stated, “Good translators were driven to their knees to ask God for the words.”
Her newsletter said, “Those who handle language must do so with fear and trembling. Words are so much more than words. Every word or phrase is a metaphor for an idea, a meaning, an intension. The sound and rhythm of language plays into its positive or negative implication. Words are art. Words are weapons. Words are promises and pledges and prayers.”
Reading Tammy’s footnotes translation on Romans 6:23 made me more aware of this. For instance, the phrases, “you are not free to adjust the consequences of your choice” and “currency of sin is eternal death”; Christ’s currency is eternal life” help shed more meaning and perspectives on Sara’s study above, “7 BIBLE VERSES TO REMIND us THAT CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES;”
I appreciate being a part of the Daily Lily study and the further enrichment provided by links that Sara shared.
Thanks Debi for listening and sharing your notes. I have listening a few times trying to take in the many wonderful points Gloria made. It has helped to get your notes.
Studying and sharing and encouraging one another daily is truly food for the soul.
“…encourage each other every day, as long as it’s called “today,” so that none of you become insensitive to God because of sin’s deception.” Hebrews 3:13 CEB https://bible.com/bible/37/heb.3.13.CEB