14 hours ago
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
I’ve been thinking lately about what kind of habits and skills I want my children to have in place before they are technical adults. When I pause a moment and realize that my oldest will be eighteen in a mere five years, that is sobering. What kind of things do I need to teach him before he launches? Five years doesn’t feel like enough.
It is tempting to focus on college prep skills - how to write a great essay, time management, how to take a test, how to read difficult books. Or maybe we should focus on life skills - how to not overdraw your bank account, how to file taxes, how to change a tire, how to be a valuable worker and hold down a job. And of course, there are character traits I want them to have - how to persevere, be reliable, be honest, be a courageous person, be an encourager, forgive others, be kind.
All these things are important, and of course we make plans to instill all those things in our children. But what are the most important things they need to learn? As I fret and worry about all the skills that my children should have, with an eye on the ticking clock, a verse niggles at the back of my mind.
“‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her.’” Luke 10:41
The good part Mary chose was to sit at the feet of Jesus, to hear His words, to soak them in and treat them as the treasure they were.
This is the one thing that is needed. My kids will learn everything else at some point, but if they miss this one thing, they’ve missed it all.
The habit of being in the Word daily, verses hidden in their hearts, the skill of how to study the Bible - this is the one thing that is needed, because these are Jesus’s very words. This is how we grow in our love of Him, and if we’ve missed Him, we’ve missed everything. So at the top of my list of things I want to give my children is the skills to know Him through His word.
Daily Bible Study And Memorization
When I was 9 years old, I read a fiction book in which one of the characters casually mentioned that you can read the whole Bible in a year if you read three chapters every day and five on Sunday. It was like a lightbulb turned on. Shortly after that, I used some of my own money to buy a devotional book, and started a daily Bible routine of my own, reading three chapters a day.
I read through the Bible several times by the time I reached the teenage years, and just reading the Bible and letting it get into all the corners of my mind was hugely helpful. My mom also took us to a community Bible study, and we learned alot of basic Bible study skills there. We attended a small country church that deeply cared about encouraging the kids to memorize Bible verses, and they offered two dollars toward summer camp fees for every verse we memorized. I memorized hundreds of verses before I graduated high school.
By the time I was an adult, I had my devotional routine firmly entrenched, I knew many Bible verses, and generally could find whatever passage I was looking for. Love of the Bible is bolstered by a familiarity with the Bible, and that is a beautiful thing. Since they were little, I’ve been trying to give my own kids both those things by equipping them to develop their own daily devotional habit.
These are a few ideas for helping kids with daily Bible time and verse memorization.
-Encourage your kids to join you for your quiet time each morning. I think the most impactful way to help your kids develop the habit of being in God’s Word every day is to make it a habit for yourself. I know that I have memories of my mother sitting at the kitchen table every morning, with her coffee in hand and Bible open. Knowing she was making her own Bible time a priority was a great encouragement to me.
-Read the Bible together. Sometimes kids go through a period of struggling with reading or understanding the Bible. Don’t let learning struggles get in the way of giving your children God’s Word! I’ve been reading the Bible with my kids as part of our homeschool morning time for the last couple years, and it has been so enriching for our family. It has opened up so many spiritual conversations that we may not have had otherwise. My goal is to read every book of the Bible to them before they graduate.
-Give them external motivation if necessary. I personally am not opposed to giving kids some sort of reward for being faithful in Bible reading, for memorizing verses, or for reading the whole Bible themselves. There may be a danger of them only reading the Bible because of the reward, but I also know that God’s Word is living and powerful, and does not return void (Hebrews 4:12,Isaiah 55:11). Even if their motivations may start out as less than stellar, my hope is that the little extra push will establish a habit in them that will not be easily broken later.
-Join a Bible memory program, or come up with your own program and reward system. I loved that the church in which I grew up had a meaningful reward for Bible memory, and when we had children I knew we needed something similar. We’ve been part of an Awana program at church for years now, and it has been a great way to encourage my kids in Bible memorization. As I’m starting to have kids graduating from Awana now, I am trying to mull over ways to create my own program so they remain motivated to memorize.
-Memorize verses together. We’ve had alot of success whenever we have established a routine of learning Bible verses as a family. I usually say a phrase, and have the kids repeat it, until we are comfortable, and then we go to the next phrase. Sometimes I’ll write the verse on a board, and between repeating it the kids will take turns erasing a word, until we can say it with no help from the board. Faithfully learning more passages of Scripture together is something I’m still working on, because I can see how those passages we have done have stuck in my children’s minds.
Developing Bible Study Skills
Aside from solid Bible reading habits and memorization skills, as my kids began to reach the teen years, I want them to learn how to deeply study a book of the Bible on their own. Though I’ve done Bible studies at church and Bible study guides on my own for years, I have only learned how to deeply study a book of the Bible on my own over the last couple years. It’s been so enriching for me, and I would like to pass those skills to my kids before they grow up so they can enter adulthood with an established method of how to rightly handle God’s Word.
Instead of a list of tips, in this section I want to give a review of a book that I recently read. It is a wonderful tool for helping teens learn how to really study the Bible before they leave home.
Transformed By Truth by Katherine Forster
My previous tips are mostly aimed at helping kids develop a habit of Bible study, but I think Transformed By Truth by Katherine Forster is a wonderful way to address the heart of Bible study. Forster is a National Bible Bee winner, and in the process of studying for the Bible Bee, she has gained so many wonderful insights into the Bible and how to dig deeply into God’s Word. She has written this book for teens in the hopes of spurring them on toward a deeper love of the Bible.
Forster shares her personal experience of learning to study and love the Bible. She starts with presenting the “big picture” of the Bible, and why this book should be the most important one in the world to us. Throughout the book she systematically shows us why we should study the Bible. I love what she says here:
“Bible study isn’t about gaining a bunch of knowledge. It’s not about becoming a better Christian so God will love you more (the Lord forbid we ever think that way!). It’s not about being smarter so we can feel better about ourselves. In fact if all we ever do is collect information about God without letting it touch our hearts and move us to love and wonder, we’ve completely missed it. In Bible study, we get to behold our God.” pg. 81
After diving into the why of Bible study, Forster gets into the “how” of Bible study. There is so much meat in this section of the book. She addresses developing the habit of Bible reading and studying the Bible with the local church. Then she gives a thoroughly helpful explanation of how to do your own inductive study of a book of the Bible. She teaches us the proper methods of observation, interpretation, and application, and gives us a myriad of tools to enrich our Bible study - all while offering advice on how to avoid misinterpretation by comparing Scripture with Scripture and always keeping context in mind.
“On our own, we’re liable to misinterpret the Scriptures, twist them to fit our own desires, and misuse them to build up our own self-righteousness while tearing others down. We’re handling weighty, everlasting things with fingers of dust. Why would we think our hands could hold these truths on our own? Why would we think our minds could comprehend the words of God Himself unless He graciously gives us help?” pg. 106
Forster also covers so many Bible study tools that the vast majority of people are probably not familiar with. You may have used a concordance before, but do you know how Strong’s concordance can be used to find out the specific Greek or Hebrew word that is used? Do you know how to use a lexicon to understand further shades of meaning in the original language? These are some of the deeper Bible study skills that Forster walks teens through in this book.
Throughout Transformed By Truth, Forster’s love for and high view of Scripture is embedded into every page. You can’t help but catch it by the end of the book.
This is a book I will be having my middle schoolers read as part of their homeschool this year. My oldest is nearly done reading it, and after my daughter reads it, I want to go through the “how” sections again as Forster walks us through an inductive study of 3 John. I think putting these skills into practice will be so impactful for them, giving them confidence for future independent Bible study. And it will also be so meaningful for me. It’s a privilege to get to teach these things to my children before they are grown, and Forster’s book is a wonderful guide and encouragement for learning together.
Time is ever slipping through my fingers. I’m reminded of the psalmist asking the Lord to “teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). As my children grow older, my prayer is for the Lord to teach me to number the days of my children’s childhood, and use them well. The burden of preparing them to enter the world as Christian young people is overwhelming, but it is a weighty gift to have these years to pour into them. I want to make sure we don’t miss out on the one thing that matters most.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
Note: I requested a copy of Transformed By Truth from the publisher in exchange for a free review. This is my honest opinion.
Sharpening Shares is a long-neglected series on the blog in which I share various Christian resources I have found spiritually edifying lately. These are some of our family's recent favorites!
Paul Washer's Studies In Proverbs Lessons - Paul Washer leads a proverbs Bible study for children and young adults and up through this podcast - there are 89 lessons covering the first four chapters of Proverbs (at least so far). These lessons are so thorough and offer so much wisdom to my kids - and me too! I would recommend this as especially helpful starting in 4th grade, but my younger kids listen in with some Bible verse coloring sheets. You can also watch video versions here, and I was excited to see that Paul Washer just recently started recording lessons again starting in Chapter 5!
Catechism Music from Brian Sauve - The kids and I have been working on memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism for years now (it's a marathon, not a sprint). We recently starting listening to Sauve's catechism songs on Spotify, and I like how easy these are to listen to - they'd even be nice to just play in the background around the house.
Chapel Library - I was recently made aware of Chapel Library, a ministry that will send you FREE Christian literature each month. You just sign up for an account, select which books or pamphlets you want them to send to you, and checkout for free! I tried them out last month and selected several tracts, some catechism booklets for my kids, and a few pamphlets from authors such as Charles Spurgeon, A. W. Pink, and J. C. Ryle. They have a whole lot more available to request and also a great free app where you can listen to audio versions of alot of the literature!
Loving The Lost Prayer Guide - A friend of mine from our church recently made me aware of this handy little booklet from the International Mission Board. This guide gives information and prayer prompts for 52 unreached people groups around the world. We use a curriculum that teaches world history and geography with an emphasis on praying for different countries around the world, and it's been a really meaningful part of our homeschool lessons. I love that this prayer guide is so compact and will hopefully help us continue that habit through the summer months! Also, I forgot to mention, you can order the booklet for free.
To Seek And To Save by Sinclair Ferguson - This is a devotional for the weeks leading up to Easter, and I am enjoying it - each day has reflections on Jesus's own travels toward Jerusalem leading up to His sacrifice on the cross for us. Ferguson pulls out great points of personal reflection, but I really appreciate how this devotional concentrates on pointing us to Jesus, not ourselves. I'm sure it'll make an appearance when I eventually write an April book roundup, as I'm on track to finish it by Easter Sunday! Bookmark it for next year.
Facing The Cross: A Homeschool Morning Time And Family Worship Guide For Holy Week - Since we are currently in Holy Week, let me remind you of this free guide to reflect on the cross and the Resurrection this week as a family! We haven't worked through this before, but I'm planning on using it with my kids this week.
I want to try something new on my blog, and attempt to share a few links every (or every-other?) Saturday or Sunday to things that I've found spiritually edifying during the previous week. I'm calling it "Sharpening Shares". Suggestions for a better name are welcome.
If I haven't mentioned it before, I experimented a bit with Instagram in January and February, and I have THOUGHTS - which will be shared later this week - but one thing I realized is that while Instagram is a convenient place to share quick articles, videos, etc., I don't actually want to share those things on there. I'm not convinced more people see shares on Instagram than on my blog, and I'd rather spend time in this space. Blogs are just friendlier, and I think those of you who read blogs are more likely to pause and find some value in a great article or sermon than all the people swiping right on Instagram stories anyway.
So here are a couple things that have been turning my eyes to Christ lately. If you check them out, I hope you find them challenging and encouraging too!
"Love Not The World" - This was a great sermon by Phil Johnson about avoiding worldliness, which he pointed out is actually a sin. I was really convicted to rethink some of my attitudes after listening to this, and this part stood out to me personally:
"But seriously, does anyone think it is a major problem across the spectrum of evangelical Christianity in America that we have too many people that are too heavenly-minded? With our faces buried in our cell phones, and our minds glued to whatever is trending on Twitter, and our televisions programmed to tevo whatever is on HBO while we watch Entertainment Tonight? A more fitting description of the average evangelical today is that he is so earthly-minded that he is of no good to either heaven or the church. And our constant fixation on every whim and novelty that is currently trending in the world is a dangerous and sinful pursuit. Fad-chasing is not and never has been a road that leads to Christ."
-Phil Johnson
Give it a listen.
Resurrection Letters Vol. 1 from Andrew Peterson - This is an old album now, but I've really appreciated the depth of the lyrics this week. I've been in an especially springy mood, despite the temperatures being in the negatives this week, and this music put me in the frame of mind for Resurrection Day!
Precepts Bible Studies - I already mentioned this in a different post, but let me take an opportunity to reiterate that I love this Bible study guide. I'm doing the Colossians one with my church, and I don't think I've ever dug into one book of the Bible so thoroughly. It guides you through the process step-by-step, with no fluff, and I'm learning a ton! I think I'll probably even buy a guide to go through on my own when we finish with this one.
Happy Sunday, friends!
Do you ever feel a little lost or purposeless, or wonder what God’s will is for your life?
I have felt that way at times, especially when I get caught up in the daily tasks of my role as a wife and mom, which can at times feel monotonous. When the kids are crying over a math lesson, dinner is burning while we are busy struggling under a load of laundry, and job conflicts or people problems are burdening us emotionally, it’s easy to start thinking there is something bigger and better out there that we’re missing - especially with the call of the little squares on social media, like a siren song, altering our expectations and luring us to all the wrong things.
Well, God‘s will for your life and mine isn’t some mysterious thing that we have to figure out. It’s right here:
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”Colossians 1:9-12 NKJV
Did you catch it? In verse nine Paul tells the Colossians that he is praying they will be filled with knowledge of God’s will:
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”
And then he lists exactly what that is in the following verses.
“…{1}that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, {2}being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; {3}strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; {4}giving thanks to the Father…”
I don’t know about you, but I fall short of all of those things every day. But to any extent that God strengthens me to fulfill His will for my life, it is only because of what Christ has done on the cross. God alone is holy, and He took our sins upon Himself and died in our place, offering us His righteousness when we trust in Christ, so that we can stand blameless someday before the throne of God.
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV
So you and I, when we trust in Jesus alone for our salvation, we don’t have to sit around wondering anymore if we are missing God’s will for our lives. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing with our time, whatever obstacles or struggles come with those daily tasks, we can live fully in His will if we do these things. We can pray and ask Him to equip us to…
…walk in a manner worthy of Him, fully pleasing Him in whatever we do,
…bear fruit in every good work by the power of His Holy Spirit,
…increase in your knowledge of God,
…be strengthened by His glorious might to do your daily work, in service to Him, with endurance, patience, and joy,
…and to give thanks to the Father who delivered us from darkness to the light of Christ’s Kingdom, by Jesus own blood spilt for our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
That. That is God’s will. For your life and for mine.
Sometimes it’s not a very clear answer. This is where Paul’s prayer for spiritual wisdom makes a lot of sense. We need to pray for God’s wisdom to see these things clearly when making decisions. If there is no right/wrong decision, it’s just a matter of our preference, then I think we choose to the best of our ability, and do whatever we do to the glory of God.
What do you think?
A Quote
'Which blow breaks the stone?' he asked. Then, pointing with his whip, he said 'Thee must never say, thee must never even let thyself think, "I won that soul for Christ." It is the first blow, and the last, and every one in between.'
-The "Dear Old Man", to Amy Carmichael; A Chance To Die
A Book
At the risk of being redundant, I'm going to mention the same book from which I took today's quote, A Chance To Die by Elisabeth Elliot, a biography of Amy Carmichael. This has been a fascinating book to read because I didn't know that many details of Carmichael's life. I also didn't realize how great of a writer Elisabeth Elliot was - this is the first book of hers I've read. It has given me so much to think about, and I imagine it will be mentioned in many upcoming posts, so I won't go into it too much here. But if you want to sharpen your own focus on Christ, this book holds so much inspiration.
A Bit Of Nature
It has snowed once every week or two in January, which is ideal in my book. There is always a bit of snow on the ground right now, and I enjoy that so much. Winter isn't nearly as beautiful without long-lasting snow. Every morning, as the sun comes up over the mountains in front of our house, it shines this bright golden lights, and it glints off the crystals of snow and frost that are clinging to the trees. It's like a little glimpse of Heaven to start the day.
A Recommendation
Today I'm going to recommend Kay Arthur's Precepts Bible studies. If you ever get a chance to do one of these studies, jump at it! One of my friends at church leads a Precepts study each year, and I decided to try to work it into my schedule for this spring. We are doing the study on Colossians and Philemon, and we have only done the first week of lessons so far - our meeting yesterday was cancelled due to a snowstorm, so I haven't even seen the videos that go along with the study. But just this one week of study has been so rich and meaningful so far. What I love about the study is how the entire thing is focused on getting you deep into the text of the book, guiding you through the observation process - there is no fluff here. Many women's Bible studies end up being surface level, but this one is a deep dive, and I'm loving it. It's the Bible study guide I've always wanted.
A Moment Of Happiness
I find that when I think back to "moments of happiness", my mind always goes to quiet moments at home, and we have unfortunately had few of those in the opening weeks of 2022. I don't have a specific moment that stands out to me this time, just snatches of family life that are flashing into my brain - hearing Gwen singing a hymn from her room upstairs; catching Georgie asleep on the floor next to my bed in the morning and picking her up to snuggle under the covers for minute; watching the Clarice play an elaborate "cops and robbers" game on her "bouncy car", dressed up in a police uniform and all; wondering wear the boys are, and then opening their bedroom door to see them deeply focused on building Legos; picking up bits of popcorn that fall between the couch cushions while Derek and I watch a movie while the fire crackers in the woodstove. We've been out of the house too much this month, and it's made me realize again how valuable our home moments are.
This morning in my Bible reading, I read this verse:
"...Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel - and God knew."
Exodus 2:23-25
That last part really stood out to me today - God knew. It wasn't that He didn't know before and now He did, it wasn't that He forgot and then remembered. He always knows, He always remembers. Another version, instead of "knew", says He "acknowledged them". He marked His covenant with the Israelites in His mind - our God who is always faithful to His covenants, though we never are. He saw their suffering, and He knew.
How grateful I am that He is a God who knows, who sees, who keeps His covenant when we are faithless, who is always good and worthy of our trust.
"It is good indeed that God remembers His covenants. We are a forgetful people who fall short in our commitments, but the Lord never fails to keep His promises. From our perspective, He may seem slow in doing so, but rest assured that He will always keep His covenant words. If we trust in Him, we can count on Him today to save us and to give us many more blessings besides."-Tabletalk Magazine, January 2022
Note: Sometimes I make sharing things on this blog too complicated - sometimes I want to write about something I read in my devotions, or a quick point that's on my mind, but it feels too short for a post. But what's wrong with short posts, anyway? So I might just stick those short things in a quick "Morning Thoughts" post in the future. Hence the "Vol. 1".
As we were walking around though, I was thinking about how much easier it is to go to the mall these days. Just a few years ago, I had a huge strolled to pack up, baby bags to stuff underneath, a little one snuggled against my chest in a carrier, multiple little hands to hold. Walking around with my elementary kids today was so easy by comparison, but there was a part of me that felt sad. I find as we get farther away from the baby phase, I miss parts of it at unexpected moments.
I also try to remember though, that soon enough I'm going to miss this stage we are in the same way, so I need to enjoy it while I can. I have a blog friend, Maria, with kids in their teens and twenties, and reading her posts reminds me how quickly this elementary school stage is going to be behind me. There are not even that many Christmases left before the first of my kids grows up! That's hard to think about. Life is so fleeting, isn't it?
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.Psalm 90:12
I was thinking of this verse today, as I was thinking about how quickly each stage of family life passes by. The context of this verse tells reminds us that though a thousand years is like yesterday to the Lord, our eighty years on this earth are fleeting and full of trouble - trouble that we have brought on ourselves because of our sin. There is wisdom in realizing that death is closer than we all think, and that we deserve God's wrath because of our sin. But for believers in Christ, there is joy and gladness in the mercy that God has showered on us by giving us His Son! Jesus took God's wrath upon Himself so that we do not have to suffer the punishment we deserve.
Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.Psalm 90:13
I love the last few verses of that Psalm. In this church age, verse 13 reminds me that Jesus is coming again, and the next verses remind me of His grace to His children in the meantime. Grace to show us how He is working despite the curse of sin we live with here, grace to allow us to be a part of His work in the world. Grace to shower the beauty of the knowledge of Who He is upon us, and to let us have the chance to pass His glory on to our children. That's really what Christmas is all about, isn't it? Pointing our kids to Him, using our time wisely in teaching them about why He came as a baby on the first Christmas, showing them His glory, which we are reminded of so much this time of year.
This December I have been in a more Christmas-y spirit than I have in years, as I've been pondering the reason for Christmas a little more often! And I've especially been enjoying this season of Christmas with my kids. The last couple weeks have been filled with Christmas movie nights, driving around to look at Christmas lights, multiple Christmas parties, present wrapping. We are still doing a little bit of school this week (a very little bit), but some of that school is going to involve baking and Christmas books. Every night we do Advent, opening the little jars filled by my in-laws, reading a devotional sent by my aunt. This stage with elementary-aged kids is a special one, when all the kids are home, and we can fully enjoy Christmas traditions together as a family...as we seek to turn our eyes to the glory and beauty of the One who satisfies us with His mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad in Him!
So here we are, soaking all of that up this Christmas - the joy of the season, and the sorrow of these fading years, all mixed together into a happy expectation of the Christmases we spend here, while waiting for our Savior to return.
One thing I love about our church is that we have a good old-fashioned Sunday school. I love to fellowship with other believers, get to know people, and hear everyone’s thoughts and insights about whatever we are studying. Most churches these days do a mid-week small group, and while I totally understand the thought behind that, we have to travel quite a way to our church and wouldn’t be able to participate in a midweek small group. A Sunday morning Sunday school is such a blessing for us.
This morning in Sunday school we were discussing Luke 9, the section about the transfiguration of Jesus. The discussion particularly turned to how Jesus only brought Peter, James, and John to the mountain with Him, and those were the only three that saw Him transfigured. He also told them afterward do not tell anyone else, so for quite a while James, John, and Peter were the only ones aside from Jesus who knew about that event.
Why did Jesus choose to only show Himself in His transfigured state to those three, and not to let the rest of the disciples know about it? Of course there is certainly an aspect that it was simply by His grace, because James, Peter, and John weren't worthy in and of themselves. Jesus calls us to Himself, and draws us, and grows us. It’s not of ourselves but only from Him that we are justified and sanctified. But we also discussed the idea that these three were the three disciples that were the closest to Jesus, from what we can tell in the gospels anyway. He chose to show them more about Himself, but from what we know about Peter and John and James, they also seemed to press in and strive to understand who He was, to follow Him single-mindedly (albeit imperfectly), and to know Him better.
Our Sunday school teacher asked us about how we can press closer in our walks with Christ and the ways that we are doing that in our lives. And one thing that came to my mind was making spending time with the Lord a habit, an same time same place, everyday habit that becomes a default. It’s wonderful when you can get those mountaintop experiences, those times when you can spend hours in the Bible, or praying, focusing your mind on the Lord. But if we are waiting to do that until we have an hour(s) long chunk of time to devote to it, it’s probably not going to happen very often.
I have noticed in my life, in the seasons when I am growing the most in the Lord, learning more about Him, and drawing closer to Him, it’s not necessarily the times when I have large chunks of time to devote to Bible study. I grow most in the times when I am just in a consistent habit of spending time with the Lord each day, even when that sometimes only 15 minutes. The Lord tells us to abide with Him, and abide in His Word, and that’s not a big-chunk-of-time, once-in-a-while practice, but a day-to-day focusing of our minds on Christ.
For me, I have been most consistent with my quiet time when I attach it to an already-existing habit of mine. Right now, that means doing my devotions before the kids get up with my regular morning coffee. Some other ideas I've considered or used have been things like:
-Reading my Bible before I pick up my book at night.
-Listening to a sermon while I fix my hair and makeup for the day.
-Reviewing Bible memorization and pondering the verses while I drive in the car.
Even making this short list has reminded me of some things I would like to turn into a regular routine again!
There have been many times in my life when I have been inconsistent in my quiet times with the Lord, and I end up feeling like I am spiritually floundering. But when I make the Lord my first priority, when I put the effort in to develop and maintain that habit of spending time in His Word - those have been the seasons where my walk with Him is the most fruitful.
When I remember that abiding can become a moment-by-moment habit, it’s a comforting thought. It feels unattainable right now to spend large chunks of time in the Bible study, but the Lord knows we have real jobs, and real children and husbands to take care of, and real homes to manage, all things that take up large portions of our day. But we can make Him our first thought in the morning, we can devote daily time to spend with Him, and we can dedicate the rest of our activities to bring Him glory when we fix our minds on Christ and abide with Him while we go about our day. That’s what I want to strive for.
And I think when we do that, when we draw closer to Him in prayer and Bible study, and seek to follow Him more every day, even when we do it imperfectly, He will reveal more and more to us in His Word. James and John and Peter were nothing special, but they did abide with Him, even with all their faults. And Jesus showed Himself to them in a unique way. That’s something He does for each of us too, when we press into Jesus and His Word.
“'I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing… By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.'”
John 15:5, 8-11 NKJV
“What is the instructive lesson to be learned from this first syllable of the angel’s song? Why this, that salvation is God’s highest glory. He is glorified in every dew drop that twinkles to the morning sun. He is magnified in every wood flower that blossoms in the copse, although it live to blush unseen, and waste it sweetness in the forest air. God is glorified in every bird that warbles on the spray; in every lamb that skips the mead...Do not all created things extol him? Is there aught beneath the sky, save man, that does not glorify God? Do not the stars exalt him, when they write His name upon the azure of heaven in their golden letters? ... Do not all things exalt Him, from the least unto the greatest? But sing, sing, oh universe, till thou hast exhausted thyself, thou canst not afford a song so sweet as a song of the incarnation. Though creation may be a majestic organ of praise, it cannot reach the compass of the golden canticle – incarnation. There is more in that than in creation, more melody in Jesus in the manger, than there is in world on worlds rolling their grandeur round the throne of the Most High. Pause Christian, and consider this a minute. See how every attribute is here magnified. Lo! What wisdom is here. God becomes man that God may be just, and the justifier of the ungodly.”
-Charles Spurgeon
On Monday, we trekked to the darkest corner of our mountain town, the darkest place we could think of, so we could get a look at the Christmas star. Every twenty years or so, Jupiter laps Saturn as they hurtle around the sun, and to the naked eye they look like one bright star.
The sky was pitch black, and the stars showed their faces one by one, outshone by a waxing moon and two planets skipping through the sky. And as I looked at all that, I couldn't help but remembering the words of silent night in the quiet.
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord at They birth.
For all the glories of the night sky, all the praise they pour forth night after night to their Creator, more glorious still is this - that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. That He humbled Himself to an undignified birth in a stable, and to a hideous death on a cross, to reconcile us to Himself. As Spurgeon says, all of God's great attributes are on display in the manger. His justice, His mercy, His love that we could never deserve.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."
Romans 5:8-11
This is the beauty of Christmas. This is true peace, the peace with God that is offered to us through the God-man whose birth we celebrate. This is love, that while we hated Him, He offered us Himself, even to die in our place, to take the punishment we deserve for our offenses against Him. What mercy is that! This is hope, that He conquered death by coming back to life, alive on His throne forevermore! He reaches out His hands to us now to give us eternal life in Him when we trust in Christ alone. And this is joy, that when we turn, repent, trust in Jesus for our salvation - that we are reconciled to our Creator, that we are rescued from wrath, that we are forgiven and washed clean, that He now calls us friends.
"In faith, there is joy." As Spurgeon would say.
I hope you find that joy and feel it more strongly than ever this Christmas, even in this dark year. Like the stars and planets showing off in the inky blackness of the sky, the light of His birth shines always bright into our darkness, if we open our eyes to see it.
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."
Isaiah 9:2
Just in case I don't get a chance to say it again before Friday, a joyful and Merry Christmas to you, friends!
There is a danger, you know, that comes with dreaming.
I’ve been thinking about this lately after flipping through a few books I read last year. I like to go back sometimes and see what I highlighted. As I flipped through The Great Gatsby, I found two paragraphs that I think are the most haunting in the whole book:
"'If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,' said Gatsby. 'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.’Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.”
Gatsby never considered that perhaps the hoping for Daisy was part of the magic. That once the hoping and dreaming was gone, the real work of building a life with the object of his dreams wouldn’t match up with the fantasy he had built in his head. Later in the book (spoiler and trigger warning), he actually ends it all because he can’t have his dream just the way he wanted it.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with dreaming, or with working for things to be better. The danger comes though, when we place all our hope in dreams. We idealize, we fantasize. We build up all the beautiful parts and forget that in this fallen world, there is always difficulty that comes with dreams fulfilled. Or we despair when our dreams go unfulfilled, as our hopes are never realized.
Nick Carraway too, is chasing dreams throughout the book. The line most quoted from Gatsby is:
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
But people tend to forget the Nick says this earlier in the book:
“I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
I think in Nick Carraway we have another character who is looking for something, wanting a fresh start with every changing season, chasing something new and exciting that he never quite finds. His disillusionment grows throughout the book. Finally there is nothing left worthy of wonder, no enchantment that isn’t eventually spoiled. In the end he decides he isn’t made for East Coast life and returns home.
You see, the world of Gatsby is in the end a godless thing, and the book ultimately drives home the futility of a godless world. Without God, there is nothing to hope for, just earthly dreams which can never truly be grasped. Without something greater, something “commensurate to [our] capacity for wonder” we are lost, doomed to ever be striving as our dreams drift farther away.
As believers, we have a better hope than that. Better than any earthly, temporal dream. Hebrews explains where our hope lies:
“Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever...”Hebrews 6:17-20
Our hope is in the strong consolation we have through God’s promises - that this world is not the end, everything it holds is not the only chance at wonder. No matter how godless the world may seem, our awesome God has not withdrawn His hand. Even now He is upholding the world “by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3), and working out everything for the purposes of His will.
We don’t need to place our hopes in a fresh season, or a dream fulfilled. We shouldn’t in fact, because those things are ultimately empty. No, our only true hope lies with an immutable, unchangeable God. A God who became our Savior when He stepped down to this fickle, fallen world, and offered up Himself as a payment for our sins, as our perfect, unblemished Savior.
Rooting all our dreams in this world will ever be a disillusioning, hopeless endeavor. And sometimes even we as believers can place our hopes in the wrong things - people, movements, elections, a new house, a new state, new friends, vacations, babies, a significant other - but all those things, even the ones that are blessings, can never truly fulfill us. When we hope in only the blessings and forget the One from whose hand they come, we’re left drifting. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
This we have as an anchor for the soul. Sure and steadfast. The promises of God that our salvation is assured, that our citizenship is in Heaven, that our Savior is there building a place for those who believe, who repent and call on His name.
There are a lot of dreams that have gone unfulfilled in 2020. A lot of disillusionment, disappointment, pain. But there is a great Hope. This is just a reminder to my sisters in Christ to not put our hopes in the wrong place - to not dream of a better tomorrow without resting in, and pointing others, to the true Hope for the world.
I didn't start this trying to draw an analogy here, but its kind of like the country right now isn't it? Some days the events in the news are so crazy, it feels like the entire American civilization is hanging by a thread. Maybe one day the last gust of wind, the last crazy event, will break it. I hope our traditions and values, the things we used to all unite around as nation, will be like that thread, strong enough to string our country together amidst all this chaos, but if not...well, it's a good thing that we believers in Christ don't have to place our hope in men, isn't it?
I'd like to insert something I wrote on Instagram a couple weeks ago, for posterity or for any of you who don't follow me over there. This is the bottom line to me:
I had some things I wanted to share this week, but all that is on hold for now, as Instagram was dominated yesterday by black squares. I don’t like getting involved in these things online, but this morning all my thoughts and feelings and discouragements coalesced and clarified. So against my initial instinct to swear off social media and just pray and cocoon with my kids (which still might be what I end up doing), I have a few things to say..First, to those putting your hope in social media campaigns, or conversations, or human organizations, or a political party, or violence, to spur on whatever change you think needs to happen, I think you will be disappointed..I like how someone else (@stopandconsider on Instagram) put it: “The spiritual oppression that all men are under is sin, and from that all the physical vestiges of oppression find their power. The only way that is changed is by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, who died for sinful men to reconcile them to God.”.
The solution to ALL our sin, the sins hidden inside us as well as the sins of murder and theft and racism that dominate the news, is CHRIST, crucified to pay the penalty of death that WE deserved. He is risen to conquer death, heal our souls, and give us victory over that sin..
HE is the One who sets us free, changes hard hearts, and brings peace to our sinful souls and broken world. If you don’t know that peace and reconciliation with God - I pray, I beg you, to seek and find that Truth...And one more thing - if we as Christians are trying to participate in this conversation on racism, rule of law, etc, and we leave out the Gospel, I’m sorry but we are doing it wrong. I’ve been personally convicted of this. What eternal good are we doing if we aren’t taking care to point others to Christ through this tragic situation? What lasting change can be made if we don’t preach the Gospel of Christ, which has the true power to change hearts and save eternal souls?.
It’s time to turn our eyes back to Him, our only true Hope amidst the chaos.
The events of the last few weeks have kind of been the last gust of wind for me, to turn my eyes back to what really matters. These verses in 2 Timothy have been swirling in my brain through the turmoil our nation is facing - reminding me that this is my duty, this is my call:
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching...But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:2,5
Paul was writing this to Timothy, who was a young pastor. But when I read those verses to apply them personally, I am reminded to keep my mind on the gospel, and my energy focused on my kids. There are so many voices shouting on social media right now, it's hard to hear anyone, and the limitations of trying to speak the truth online become ever more apparent...but I can preach the Word to my kids. I can be faithful in my efforts to convince, exhort, rebuke, and train them. I can show them how to be watchful in all things by showing them what God's Word says about what is happening in the world, I can present examples of how to endure afflictions while giving thanks to God, I can do the work of an evangelist by pointing them to Jesus's atoning work on the cross always. This is I can fulfill my ministry, the most important one, which has always been to shine the light of Christ in my home to my children, to write the Truth on their hearts.
(A couple photos from my birthday fishing trip last weekend.)
So maybe that's why I have been quiet on social media and my blog lately, because I have been mulling over how I can do better at this. How I can lead their hearts to Jesus, pray for them better, train them in righteousness, and prepare them to stand firm amidst the persecution they will no doubt face someday.
I feel more urgency for this than I used to. I don't want to waste too much time shouting into the noise on social media, when my greatest impact will be whispering truth into the hearts of my children.
---
Anyway, I meant for this to be a light, catch-up post, but I guess I needed to get that off my chest first. You all know I like to have fun, and sharing it all on here is part of the fun for me, so those posts are coming too! Thanks for hanging around while I sorted through my thoughts over the last month.
And oh yeah, it's summer. The sun is shining on my legs, and I can practically feel the Vitamin D being manufactured, boosting my mood. The birds chirp from the trees all around, the table umbrella is spinning as the breeze picks up, and I hear some shouting from inside the house that I should probably go attend to. Before I close my laptop, I look up again, and that silvery thread connecting the chair and the railing is still dancing in the wind.
(This week last year, we were visiting New Orleans. Is it cheating to recycle those photos for this post?)
Walking to the mailbox has become something of a lifeline over the last weeks. Though I am so blessed to be able to say that our day-to-day life has not changed much through this virus situation, it is still difficult on all of us to be stuck at home. So we are making a tradition of fresh air and mud on our shoes, as we trudge on the dirt roads of our neighborhood for the post.
The other day, as we were walking, my oldest stopped in his tracks. "Did you hear that, Mom? I think it was a robin."
And we all stopped and looked around, and from the eave of our neighbor's house we saw a swooping movement, a flash of orange-ish red.
"It is, it's a robin! That means it's spring!" my boy cried, and somehow seeing that little bird did my heart good. The world may have ground to a halt, but spring is still coming.
I've been thinking alot in the last few weeks, about the juxtaposition of some things going on unchanged, as other things cease entirely. I may not be afraid of physically suffering, but the frustration and disappointment and uncertainty of these days is still stressful. I'm remembering that these feelings qualify as the cares I need to cast upon Him. He cares for those things too. And in the midst uncertainty, I look at spring flowers pushing their way through the dirt, and I remember all the things of which I can be certain.
I am certain that even if this world burns to the ground, this is not my real home.
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." Philippians 3:20
I am certain that we are all sinners, but Jesus took the punishment we deserve for our sin by dying in our place on the cross.
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
I am certain that Jesus has risen and conquered over death, and that if we turn to Him in repentance and faith, He will save us - and He will hold us in the palm of His hand, and no one and nothing can snatch us out of it.
"For if you confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
"And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand." John 10:28
I am certain that we are going to have trouble in this world, and we can see some of that trouble clearly now. But I know that He has overcome the world.
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7
I am certain that one day He's coming back, and He'll wipe away all our tears. He will give believers the crown of righteousness that we cannot earn, but that Jesus bought for us on the cross.
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4
"Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:8
And in the meantime, I know that God is our ever-present refuge, upon whom we can cast all our cares.
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." Psalm 46:1-2
"Cast all your anxiety upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:
"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31
That last verse feels poignant at this moment. I'm sitting here, typing this now, listening to the birds making nests in the eaves outside my window. Tiny peeps, flashes of shadow against the screen. And I remember that not even one of them falls to the ground without God seeing. And He cares for us more than the sparrows.
This is our comfort, our help in trouble, our peace with God - bought by the precious blood of Jesus. Today is Good Friday, and we remember His death to pay the price for our sins, the penalty we owed. On Sunday we will celebrate, because no matter what is going on in the outside world, He is risen. His is the victory. And He has us in His hands forever when we trust in Him. What peace and joy there is in that, even if we have to celebrate stuck at home this year.
If you don't know that peace, I pray that through all this you will find it. And if you do know Christ, I pray that you'll also remember with me that we can turn our eyes to Jesus, rest in His peace, celebrate His resurrection well, and take this chance to share the truth of the gospel of Christ with a world that is full of fear.
Happy Resurrection Day in advance, friends!
If you don't know that peace, I pray that through all this you will find it. And if you do know Christ, I pray that you'll also remember with me that we can turn our eyes to Jesus, rest in His peace, celebrate His resurrection well, and take this chance to share the truth of the gospel of Christ with a world that is full of fear.
Happy Resurrection Day in advance, friends!
"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said." Matthew 28:6
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