The Word as a Weapon

I have been doing some verse mapping with my current Bible study .It has been eye opening to dig a little more into some common verses that I have known since childhood, and see a deeper meaning than I have seen before.

This week I was looking at John 15:4 ~ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

My NLT Study Bible (which is awesome!) says about remaining in Christ, "A disciple's life is fully formed by Jesus' words". It also says remaining "means a commitment on the part of God and the disciple".

I am #amazed that God is committed to me. He isn't asking anything of me that he isn't already doing for me.

My #Saywhat Moment

Her name was Susan. She was a captive audience in my living room. She had come to my home to sell me a very expensive vacuum cleaner. She did her demo, and I listened politely. In exchange for this I got a clean living room carpet and a small, rather useless camera. She got stuck at my house with no sale and no ride for an hour.

To say this was awkward is an understatement. I'm extremely introverted and I struggle with small talk. Thankfully, she was somewhat chatty. We talked about life for a few minutes. She asked me what my husband did . I said he was studying to be a minister. This brought on a rather long diatribe about why she didn't like ministers because they were so rich and took money from little old ladies.

At some point during all of this I got the strong impression that I was supposed to share my faith with with Susan. After hearing her talk about all that was wrong with churches, and Christians, and pastors, I was a little hesitant.  But I was obedient. I asked her a few questions, and found out that when she was young she went to a hell-fire-and-brimstone church. All she had ever heard about God was how judgmental he was, and that he couldn't wait to send people to Hell. Pastors scared her, Christians scared her, and God scared her. I was able to share God's love with her, and tell her that I'm not a Christian because I'm afraid of God. I'm a Christian because of the love He showed when He sent Christ to die for me.

I never saw Susan again after the hour we spent together. I still pray for her whenever I think about her. I'm so thankful I was obedient that day. I hope today she is serving the God that I know. The one that loves her more than anything.

With All My Heart

I have been meditating on Deuteronomy 6:5 this week:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

I've known this verse since I was a little girl. I never really thought about it being anything spectacular. Of course I love God. I am a Christian. That's what Christians do.

Last night I dug a little deeper. My study Bible commentary says the heart, soul, and strength are our intellect, will, emotions, and our physical being. Everything I am needs to love God. Everything that makes me who I am needs to love God. Not just my mind if I'm tired, and not just my body if I'm thinking about something else. I need to love Him with all my being. This takes concentration and discipline. It takes time. It also takes reading the next verse:

"And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you."

Wholehearted commitment. That's what it looks like.

Book Review: God is More Than Enough

God is More Than Enough by Tony Evans is a great little book packed with powerful reminders of God's love, protection, and provision. This book can easily be read in one sitting, but is message is deep and profound. Mr. Evans breaks down the 23rd Psalm to show us God is more than enough to meet our spiritual, directional, emotional, physical, and eternal needs. He also shows us that the 23rd Psalm is more than just beautiful poetry. It is also a study of God's character and how He interacts in the Christian life. I highly recommend this book.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah for the purpose of review.

Book Review:31 Days of Power by Ruth Myers

I received a free copy of 31 Days of Power by Ruth Myers from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the purpose of review. This is the 2nd "31 Days" devotional book I have read, and I have enjoyed both of them. The focus of 31 Days of power is spiritual warfare. Every devotional reading is a scripture based prayer that focuses on a different spiritual warfare theme such as the power of God's goodness, victory, overcoming the world, etc. Ms. Myers has provided the scripture she used when writing each prayer for easy reference. At the end of the devotional is a short Bible study on the dynamics of spiritual warfare.
I think any Christian would benefit from reading this book. It is very practical, and easy to apply in daily life.

Looking Forward

Since a new year is almost here, I thought I would share some of the Bible study and devotional resources I will be using next year.

I have used a couple of year-long Bible reading programs in the past that I have liked, but this year I have fallen in love with the One Year Chronological Bible. I use it in conjunction with Wendy Pope's blog. She has a daily lesson to go along with each days reading. This has really helped hold me accountable. You can also have the daily readings delivered to your inbox if you don't want to buy the Bible.

Another resource I have enjoyed using is Proverbs 31's devotions. I get these in my email every weekday. They are very well done and include journaling ideas and reflection questions.

I will also be doing the Siesta Scripture Team on Beth Moore's blog. I did this 2 years ago, and it was so much fun. I'm really glad she decided to do it again this year.

I hope you find some of this helpful. What are you planning on using next year?

My Word of the Year

Did you know austerity is the official word of 2010? You can read about it here. Austerity means "enforced or extreme economy". Based on that definition, I suppose 2010 was a very austere year.

My official word for 2010 was contentment. At the end of 2009 I started to think about what I wasn't, and what I was struggling to be. The word content kept coming to mind. I wanted to stop wanting things, and to start being content with what I already had.

My first step in making contentment my word was to find a corresponding verse to go along with it. I chose 1 Timothy 6:6, "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth". I wrote this verse down in several places and memorized it. Then I sat back and waited for opportunities to practice being content. Trust me when I tell you I had opportunities to practice contentment coming out of my ears.

My word for 2011 will be ministry. Russty is lead worship again, and all those old feelings of inadequacy are already popping up. the verse I have selected for this year is 1 Corinthians 15:58, "...be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless". I also want to learn more about ministering through my Bible study and reading this year.

Is there anything you want to work on this year?