A friend of mine, asked for some ideas to freshen her times of reading the Bible. Just thinking about it inspired me to get more intentional about it and renewed my desire to learn about God's love in the pages of His words to us - The Bible. Following are the suggestions I gave my friend.
NavPress Lifechange series for basic inductive (letting the Bible interpret itself) study of a single book at a time.
What the Bible is All About by Henrietta Mears - gives historical and biographical information about all the Bible books in an accessible, easy to read format.
Read through the whole Bible with one question in mind for God; take your time and ponder His answers when they come.
What is God's love like?
Who is Jesus? Who is the Holy Spirit? Who is God the Father?
How does God fight for me?
What does God care about most?
Use a different Bible version than you normally use if it's become "stale" or you get distracted
easily.
Some good ones are New International Version, New American Standard Version, Updated, Amplified Bible, English Standard Version, The Message (I recommend
reading the Message after you've read through another version or two
since it is really a paraphrase and is one man's idea of what God meant
rather than a translation in which many people agreed on the meanings of
terms)
Have fun getting to really know God in the pages of Scripture and letting that relationship transform who you are!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Pleasing God or pleasing people?
In recent weeks, I've heard and read some statements that seemed written in BOLD PRINT for my heart when I encountered them. I'll summarize those so you have the context of this post.
1. A wise friend in Alaska lovingly pointed out a long-standing struggle I've had trying to please people and that I too often live with concerns about what people think of my actions/decisions.
2. Last Sunday, our pastor said, "Every great vision will have critics...Run after the vision God gave you...There are no monuments to critics."
3. Two days ago, while reading a Bible passage, I was stopped in my mental and spiritual tracks by this statement - "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10
I was grieved to realize in that moment I was a slave to people - anyone that seems to care or have an opinion about the pursuit of God's vision for my life. I know I very much want to be a voluntary servant of God (bondservant), but I've fallen into the trap of involuntary servitude to people far too often! When I let myself be consumed with what others think about my pursuit of God's calling on my life more than what God Himself has told me to do, I've chosen slavery to those people rather than to God.
Taken together, it is clear my current assignment from God is to wrestle through this habit and pull this "weed" up, roots and all, by the power of God working in me. I know the roots of this struggle were established when I was abused by a school teacher in second grade. I know the weed was watered along the way by events in junior high and high school. I know God has already begun a good work in me to pull this weed out, roots and all. It must be time to take the next step in that process of being made into the image of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
In Galatians 5:1, the Apostle Paul declares, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a joke of slavery."
Cooperating with God for victory,
Linda
1. A wise friend in Alaska lovingly pointed out a long-standing struggle I've had trying to please people and that I too often live with concerns about what people think of my actions/decisions.
2. Last Sunday, our pastor said, "Every great vision will have critics...Run after the vision God gave you...There are no monuments to critics."
3. Two days ago, while reading a Bible passage, I was stopped in my mental and spiritual tracks by this statement - "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10
I was grieved to realize in that moment I was a slave to people - anyone that seems to care or have an opinion about the pursuit of God's vision for my life. I know I very much want to be a voluntary servant of God (bondservant), but I've fallen into the trap of involuntary servitude to people far too often! When I let myself be consumed with what others think about my pursuit of God's calling on my life more than what God Himself has told me to do, I've chosen slavery to those people rather than to God.
Taken together, it is clear my current assignment from God is to wrestle through this habit and pull this "weed" up, roots and all, by the power of God working in me. I know the roots of this struggle were established when I was abused by a school teacher in second grade. I know the weed was watered along the way by events in junior high and high school. I know God has already begun a good work in me to pull this weed out, roots and all. It must be time to take the next step in that process of being made into the image of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
In Galatians 5:1, the Apostle Paul declares, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a joke of slavery."
Cooperating with God for victory,
Linda
Monday, January 23, 2012
Now what?
For years, I have dreamed of preaching the good news God shares with me to men and women on a large scale. The dream has been squashed by myself and others and I've denied I ever wanted it to deal with the pain of setting it aside. I've longed for it and been discouraged, I've dusted it off and then feared it.
There were barriers to the pursuit of that dream along the way, some real and some imagined that seemed just as real. Now that all the barriers are gone, I'm confronted with questions I'd never noticed before.
These questions occupy my thoughts almost daily now:
Is this truly my dream? Now that it is possible, do I want to do it? Why do I hesitate? What do I fear?
God says, "Do not fear" about 143 times in the Bible. I know He wants me to believe Him to do great and mighty things for my good, no matter how impossible they seem to me. I know operating in fear is not operating in faith in my God who is good and cares personally about every detail of my life (Psalm 139; Jeremiah 29:11). I feel paralyzed somewhere deep down.
I'm on new frontiers and taking baby steps.
Without barriers, would you pursue your dream? Would your dream be the same?
There were barriers to the pursuit of that dream along the way, some real and some imagined that seemed just as real. Now that all the barriers are gone, I'm confronted with questions I'd never noticed before.
These questions occupy my thoughts almost daily now:
Is this truly my dream? Now that it is possible, do I want to do it? Why do I hesitate? What do I fear?
God says, "Do not fear" about 143 times in the Bible. I know He wants me to believe Him to do great and mighty things for my good, no matter how impossible they seem to me. I know operating in fear is not operating in faith in my God who is good and cares personally about every detail of my life (Psalm 139; Jeremiah 29:11). I feel paralyzed somewhere deep down.
I'm on new frontiers and taking baby steps.
Without barriers, would you pursue your dream? Would your dream be the same?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Living the Dream
I've borrowed the title and some of the content of this post from the sermon series Daniel Floyd is teaching at (Lifepoint Church).
I have been dusting off a dream that had been squashed under the "you can't do that!" of others. This week's sermon was about letting God's opinion of me matter more than the opinion of people. I've heard many talks about the subject and even have a few up my sleeve that I've offered to myself and others along the way. What was different this time? God spoke to my heart and called me out. He said I needed to LIVE the dream He planted in my heart rather than wait for people to approve of it. What a challenge!
What is your dream? Have you put it in a well-hidden part of your heart and left it there hoping one day it would be fulfilled in an instant? Have you dismissed it as too grand or too risky? Have you hoped God would come up with a different dream, one that is easier to do or achieve?
The world around you needs the dream God put in your heart - that God-sized, I-can-only-do-it-If-God-makes-a-way dream. What good and worthy things will happen if you go for it? What might be lost if you don't?
I have been dusting off a dream that had been squashed under the "you can't do that!" of others. This week's sermon was about letting God's opinion of me matter more than the opinion of people. I've heard many talks about the subject and even have a few up my sleeve that I've offered to myself and others along the way. What was different this time? God spoke to my heart and called me out. He said I needed to LIVE the dream He planted in my heart rather than wait for people to approve of it. What a challenge!
What is your dream? Have you put it in a well-hidden part of your heart and left it there hoping one day it would be fulfilled in an instant? Have you dismissed it as too grand or too risky? Have you hoped God would come up with a different dream, one that is easier to do or achieve?
The world around you needs the dream God put in your heart - that God-sized, I-can-only-do-it-If-God-makes-a-way dream. What good and worthy things will happen if you go for it? What might be lost if you don't?
Saturday, June 11, 2011
If you only knew the Jesus I love
At a recent home group meeting, a man shared that his son believes lots of people want to know God, especially the God we love and serve who is kind, strong, good, full of love and much more. I was deeply impacted by the mindset with which this young man shares God with people. I think he's right. People really do want to know the God we find in the pages of the Bible (when taken as a whole, not randomly extracted in little bits), just not the small, petty, vindictive god often depicted by some.
Resolved: I will take more risks to tell people about the God I love and why my life is so much better WITH him in it!
Resolved: I will take more risks to tell people about the God I love and why my life is so much better WITH him in it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)