Returning to the Familiar

There is a saying that the familiar breeds contempt, but the familiar I'm thinking of is what gives us comfort, encouragment, wisdom and truth. This is the familiar that spurs us on when we get weary, the familiar that feeds the fire of our passion for Christ. This familiar stirs our faith, comforts us when we need comfort and reassuring. The familiar I'm blogging about is our spiritual foundation.
Before we started coming to TRC, these familiar things would pop into my mind. When praying, an old song from the red hymnal came clear as day; or something from Luther's Catechism. That one went back a few years! Just last Sunday, P. Mel led us in worship from one of those hymns that's in the red hymnal to this day! "What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus." The familiar is with us every day because it's our Christian foundation, everything we believe about our faith in Jesus. Every doctrine, every familiar Bible story many of us grew up with, our prayer life, all the word of God is our foundation.
The danger in the human heart is to allow that familiar to be taken for granted. I know I did at one point and in doing that, I allowed my love for the familiar to become lukewarm. That's why God, in His mercy and grace, started filling my thoughts with the familiar again. I was surprised to even remember parts of Luther's Catechism that I had to learn in the early 50's. The once taken for granted now has my great love and I wanted to share some of the familiar scriptures we know very well. I'm praying it will stir up your love and faith for these blessings that God has given us.
Gen. 3:15, Ps. 23, Ps. 46, Isa. 25:1, Isa.46: 9-10, Eph. 6:10-18, Matt. 6: 9-13, Phil. 4:1, John 3: 16, Matt.11:28-30, Matt. 18: 19-20, Phil. 1:6, Col. 3:23-24, Col. 4:2, Rom. 1:16-17, Rom. 12:1-2, 1Cor. 15:56, 2Cor. 2:14-15, 2Cor. 5:7, 2Cor. 6:2, 2Cor. 9:6-8, 2Cor. 12:9-10, Phil. 4: 6-9, Phil. 4:13, Phil. 4: 19.
That list is long, so take it a little at a time. Take a scripture a day, spend time in it, pray and think about what it says. Ask God to give you understanding and help to apply it to your every day life. There might be another blog on the familiar, or make your own list of the familiar that has meant so much to you.
The familiar does great work in us!