Trusting God – Page 11 – Marybeth McCullum

God + Me = A Majority

The music from my car’s radio turned to static as I wound my way through the Santa Cruz Mountains on Highway 17. I clicked the knob off and breathed a prayer: God, thanks for being with me wherever I go. I’ve prayed a lot about this trip and you know what I need, so I’m not going to keep saying it. Please help me to be silent now and just feel your presence.

Half an hour later I was pulling into a parking space at the conference center. My heart thudded in my chest as I walked past a cheerful sign saying “Welcome Mount Hermon Christian Writers.” I chastised myself silently: Yesterday you spoke to a room full of women and assured them that “God + Me = A Majority.” Do you believe that’s true in your own life today?

It was my first time to the conference and I’d felt some dread in the months leading up to it. I was nervous about spending four nights away from my family with several hundred writers, literary agents, editors and publishers. Knowing I was a rookie and that I didn’t know a soul attending didn’t help. To say it was a step out of my comfort zone would be an understatement.

I found reassurance reminding myself that I wasn’t alone and never would be. I tried to let the title of my talk travel from my head to my heart: “God + Me = A Majority.” I repeated the line several times to grasp its truth. God came up the mountain with me. He would also meet me there and connect me to others who knew Him. I could trust Him because His promises were true.

I thought about all of the people I’d referenced in my talk the day before. Throughout the Bible God promised many people He would be with them: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Jeremiah and Gideon—to name a few. In Hebrews we find this promise for all who follow Jesus: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5b)

The only reason we can claim this promise is that Jesus made it possible for us. His death on the cross allows us to have direct and permanent access to God. As we celebrate Holy Week, it seems only fitting to consider the price Jesus paid so that we will never be forsaken by God.

While He walked the earth, Jesus took great comfort in knowing His Father was with Him. On the night before He was crucified, He told His disciples in the garden: “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” (John 16:32) He knew His closest friends would desert Him in His hour of greatest need, yet He took comfort knowing His Father was there with Him.

A day later, Jesus had been arrested, beaten and nailed to a cross. His pain was not only physical, but also spiritual and emotional. This was the only time in His earthly life He could not find comfort in His Father’s presence. As He suffered in agony, He cried out the words of David from Psalm 22 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The Wycliffe Bible Commentary explains: “The Father withdrew from communion with the Son. No longer did he evidence his love toward the son. Instead Christ had become the object of the Father’s displeasure, for he was the sinner’s substitute. Christ became ‘sin for us’ and a holy God cannot look with favor upon sin.” (Wycliffe Bible Commentary, 1990 edition, p. 1024)

Jesus took the punishment that we deserved so that we never have to experience being forsaken by God. The very thing that comforts us most as Christians was denied to Him.

Thinking about this makes my heart swell with gratitude. His sacrifice on the cross not only enables us to have eternal life, it also allows us to have the comfort of knowing He walks with us daily.

Knowing this truth should make us passionate about sharing it with others. How could we keep it to ourselves when there is a world desperately in need of hope? One of the best ways we can show Jesus gratitude for His work on the cross is by being lights for Him.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

There are so many different ways we can do this with our actions, attitudes and words. Our neighborhoods, schools and secular workplaces provide abundant opportunities to shine for Jesus. When we help an underserved population locally or overseas, we are bringing light to darkness. Sometimes it can be as simple as showing love and grace when we’re tempted to dish out judgment and criticism. The options are limitless. God gives us the gifts we need and equips us to bring light to the darkness. Our job is to step out obediently to use what He’s given us. This might sound a little intimidating, but we can rest assured that He will be with us and that “God + Me = A Majority.”

Click on the link below to be inspired by Christy Nockels’ song “Life Light Up.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZ6L6qGR7s

If you missed my talk at Focused Living, you can access it through my Facebook page: Marybeth Mc Cullum – Author (due to privacy settings I am unable to post it here)

(The title “God + Me = A Majority” was borrowed from an episode of Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey).

Breaking the Cycle

I recently returned from a trip to Disney’s California Resort with my family. We had a fantastic time together going on rides, watching shows, eating treats and reminiscing about previous trips there. I love Disneyland, even if it is just the tiniest bit over-stimulating for me.

The only part I don’t like is this little issue I have with motion sickness (and I’m slightly in denial about it). Posted outside each thrill ride is a very clear warning listing all of the horrible things that could happen to people subjecting themselves to it. The signs clearly state that motion sickness will be “aggravated” by the rides. Every time I strapped myself in, I knew what the consequence would be, but I didn’t want to miss out on having fun with my family.

After one ride full of steep climbs, sudden drops, sharp turns and upside down loops, I decided to take a break. I needed to let my stomach and head find their equilibrium again. I waved happily from a bench as my husband and kids headed back for another round. After I’d recovered a few hours later, I got in line with them for yet another roller coaster and walked past yet another warning sign.

My stomach had finally settled, but I didn’t want to miss out on being with them. The familiar queasiness returned as soon as we made the first high-speed turn. At the end of the ride my upset stomach told me it was finished with thrills for the day. I listened to my body and steered clear of roller coasters after that.

Surprisingly, my little adventure with the roller coasters has a few parallels with Nehemiah chapter 9. Like me, the Israelites were given clear warnings, but they failed to heed them and doomed themselves to repeat the same “roller coaster ride” for much of their history. In Nehemiah 9, the Israelites prayed and reviewed the pattern of their people, starting with Abraham. They recognized the cycle that their ancestors followed from one generation to the next:

1) Receive God’s Blessing and Faithfulness

2) Rebel/ Fall Away / Face Hardship

3) Receive God’s Discipline and Repent

4) Reconcile with God/ Receive God’s Blessing

The people of Nehemiah’s time saw how they continued the cycle and realized God’s faithfulness in spite of their faithlessness. They confessed to God and sought His help:

“In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways. But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.” (Nehemiah 9:33-37)

The people were in “phase three” of their usual cycle and trying to move to “phase four” from my list above. Sadly, this would not be the last time the pattern would repeat. Among the many lessons we can learn from the Israelites, two stand out to me. First, they didn’t deal well with difficulty. Second, they didn’t remember God in their times of ease.

Dealing with Difficulty

Kelly Minter explains: “whenever the Israelites faced difficulty in the desert they chose to believe something false about God. Three of the biggies were that He had abandoned them, withheld from them, or wouldn’t meet their needs.” (Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break p. 125).

Like the Israelites, we can make big mistakes when we view difficulties as unusual or when we expect to be spared from them. Hard things happen, but God is still good. In fact, He often uses hardships to refine our faith and draw us closer to Him. Jesus said it clearly, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

When we have established in our hearts and minds that God is good then the difficulties we face cause us to rely on Him instead of questioning Him. Similarly, when we believe God is sovereign, we trust Him to handle the injustices we experience. Even when we don’t understand the trials we face, we know He’ll use them mature us and refine our faith.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3-9)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

Forgetting God in Times of Ease

Nehemiah 9:35 explains that even when the people were enjoying God’s “great goodness” and the “spacious and fertile land,” they failed to acknowledge Him.

Sometimes it is harder to remember to focus on God when life is easy and things are going well. We get lulled into thinking that the ease of our circumstances is our “new normal” or that we’ve done something right to deserve it. We can become complacent, apathetic and spiritually lazy. Our circumstantial peace should allow us time to study God’s word, grow with Him and serve Him. Yet sometimes when circumstances are smooth, we tend stray away and give our time and attention to other things. We take God’s goodness for granted and forget to use His blessings to benefit others and honor Him.

Jesus makes a strong point about this in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. In His story, a wealthy landowner calls his servants to him before leaving on a long journey. To each he gives a sum of money called a “talent.” Each one receives an amount “according to his ability.” To the first, he gives five talents, to the second two and to the last, one.

When the landowner returns, he discovers that the first and second servants have invested the talents wisely and have doubled their amounts. The landowner praises each of them similarly: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” (John 25:21).

The third servant has only the original one talent to return to his master. Instead of investing it, he simply dug a hole and hid it, fearing his master.

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.’ “ (Matthew 25:26-29)

The servant given the smallest load to bear failed miserably. My Bible’s study notes put it this way: “The talents represent any kind of resource we are given. God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us. The issue is not how much we have, but how well we use what we have.” (Zondervan Life Application Bible 1991)

When life is going smoothly, it is the time to use our health, wealth, skills, experience, education and spiritual gifts to bless others and honor God. It is not the time to coast and live a life of ease and comfort, but a time to stretch, grow and help further the Kingdom of God.

Let’s choose not to be like the Israelites, continually cycling through obedience, rebellion, discipline and repentance. Getting caught in a pattern like that consumes energy without producing growth or maturity.

It’s a bit like my roller coaster experience. I knew what rides might make me sick, but I went on a few anyway hoping for a different outcome. I quickly realized that not heeding the posted warnings would ruin my day. My body was telling me to stop and if I ignored it, I would have been too sick to enjoy the day at all. I had to break the cycle. Once I did, my stomach settled and I had a great time instead of muscling through more hours of nausea.

If you find yourself stuck in your own version of “the cycle,” be encouraged. You are not the only one! When you’re headed for that roller coaster you know you shouldn’t be riding, pray and ask God to help you step out of line. Click on the link below to hear Josh Wilson’s song “Know By Now.” It will remind you of God’s sovereignty, faithfulness and patience with us in spite of our failings.

Straining Out Truth From Lies

Nehemiah was an impressive man with a singular focus. One of the things I most respect about him was his ability to discern truth from lies quickly and not to second-guess himself or God. In Nehemiah chapter 6 his enemies hatch a scheme to derail him while he leads the people of Jerusalem in their wall re-building efforts. The three schemers, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem repeatedly send messengers asking Nehemiah to stop work to come and meet with them. When he refuses, they finally fabricate a lie to strike fear in him. They write and tell him there are rumors that he is planning a revolt and offer to “confer together” with him. I love Nehemiah’s response: “I sent him this reply: ‘Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.’” (Nehemiah 6:8) Nehemiah goes on to explain: “They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.’ But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.’” (Nehemiah 6:9)

Nehemiah saw the lie for what it was and didn’t let it upset him. He didn’t lose his focus or spend time fretting over what other people might be thinking about him. He didn’t worry about politics because he knew he was doing the right thing and that he had the king’s support. His only response to their threat was to pray for strength and continue building.

Nehemiah’s story gives a great example for what Satan often does in our lives. Sometimes we are working steadily toward accomplishing God’s call for us when Satan slips in and sows seeds of deception to get us off track. Sometimes he uses other people, as he did with Nehemiah, and sometimes he uses our own doubts and insecurities.

We see a clear example of this in the New Testament in a conversation between Jesus and Peter:

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’” (Matthew 16:21-23)

Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends, but Jesus recognized Satan was using him. Peter’s words were dissuading Him from carrying out the very purpose for which He came to earth: to suffer and die for the sins of all people. Although Peter didn’t understand his error, Jesus recognized that his friend’s “supportive” words were actually clouding His focus.

Jesus knew well that lies and deception came from one source. In an earlier exchange He has with a group of Jews who refuse to accept Him He says: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

Both Jesus and Nehemiah immediately recognized Satan’s attempts to distract them from God’s goals for them. Satan isn’t very creative and tends to grab from the same bag of tricks to derail us over and over again. The best way we can arm ourselves from falling for his lies is by knowing the truth of God’s word and having our gaze singularly focused on Him. Satan wants nothing more than to render us ineffective by succumbing to our weaknesses and insecurities. Lukewarm, complacent, insecure Christians rarely make an impact for the kingdom of God.

Our best defense against believing lies is being able to recognize God’s voice. This happens when we spend time with Him and in His word consistently. Jesus explains this using the metaphor of a shepherd (God) and His flock (us): “The gatekeeper [shepherd] opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:3-5)

There are many times in my life when I haven’t stopped to think about the voices I’m hearing. Without God’s wisdom and discernment, I easily fall prey to Satan’s lies. One of the fastest ways he does this is by causing me to focus on myself. When I wallow in my feelings of inadequacy and insecurity I prevent myself from being used effectively for God’s purposes. When I find my confidence in Christ and focus on God and what He can do through me, He moves in my life in powerful ways. This can be as simple as taking my eyes off myself to smile at a stranger or as involved as saying “yes” to a ministry opportunity that is going to stretch me beyond my comfort zone.

A few years ago I attended a silent retreat sponsored through our church. Included in the materials was a handout called “Three Voices” that provided wisdom for discerning between God’s voice, Satan’s voice and the world’s voice. It has been like a spiritual and mental strainer for my mind. All the internal and external voices I hear throughout the day get filtered through it. I hold onto the voices containing God’s truth and discard the rest. Over time, I’ve added to the list through my own experiences and observations. I hope you’ll find it a useful tool as you learn to strain out truth and let the lies wash away.

Three Voices:

God’s Tone of Voice is: soothing, quieting, peaceful, encouraging, invigorating, inspiring

Satan’s Tone of Voice is: insistent, demanding, mesmerizing, hurried, rash, accusing, discouraging, doubt-producing, pride-building, vengeful, selfish, self-centered, critical, negative, defeating

The World’s Tone of Voice: agrees with the world’s standards and attitudes, is driven to be accepted and acceptable, lets the culture set personal standards, compares self to others, believes we are what the world says, is fearful of what others think, seeks value in exterior and measurable qualities, constantly struggles to “measure up”

God’s Motives and Character: builds relationships, empowers us, give us courage, provides wisdom, gives peace, stretches and challenges us, reassures us, convicts us to bring positive and healthy changes, offers grace, understands, forgives

Satan’s Motives and Character: destroys, deceives, accuses, divides, isolates, turns people away form God, lies, makes us feel guilty, creates self-loathing, capitalizes on insecurities and doubts, exaggerates faults, magnifies misunderstandings

The World’s Motives and Character: to please people, to fit in, to satisfy self, to look out for self, to judge self and others, to compare self to others

As you ponder the voices in your own life, let the verses below encourage you:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” –Romans 12:2

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” –Philippians 1:9-11

Click on the link below to hear Jason Gray’s song “Remind Me Who I Am.” It’s a great encouragement to keep our minds fixed on God’s truth and not to believe the lies that assault us throughout the day.

Depositing God’s Truth in Your Spiritual Bank

Recently at our Focused Living Bible Study we had the privilege of hearing from three women in three different life stages. They all shared specifics about how they’ve seen God take them “Deeper Still” in their relationships with Him. All three had fantastic messages to share and we were blessed by their authenticity and candor. It just so happens that the last woman to share was my mom. During her talk she highlighted how much she values studying the Bible to keep aligned with God’s truth. She told us that she started formally studying the Bible in 1974 and has continued ever since in a variety of different classes and groups. My mom admonished us to see studying God’s word as an opportunity to make deposits in our “spiritual banks,” pointing out that truths we learn now can sustain us in the years to come. Isaiah 55:10-11 says pretty much the same thing:

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth  and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,  but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Our Bible study is wrapping up another challenging and inspiring study, but before I add my workbook from Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still to the growing collection on my shelf, I’d like to reflect on what I’ve learned. Spending time looking back is an opportunity to make a deposit in our “spiritual banks.” Writing down the truths we’ve learned will bless us in the years to come and imprint them more deeply into our memories.

Truths Taught by Kay Arthur

-Don’t Shrink Back

Kay taught us about God’s faithfulness and encouraged us to make time for God’s word and to keep from entangling ourselves in the affairs of the world. Referring often to the book of Hebrews, she reminded us not to “shrink back” and to continue growing deeper with God.

Hebrews 10:35-39 “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, ‘In just a little while, he who is coming will come  and will not delay.’ And, ‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.’ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”

-Handle God’s Word Correctly

Kay reminded us of the value of God’s word and the importance of learning to use and handle it correctly. She pointed out that studying the Bible is not just about getting us through our issues, but changing us from the inside out.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

-Abandon Unbelief to Find the Rest of Faith

Kay also taught is that having faith means resting in the word of God. We cannot have the rest of faith if we have unbelief in our lives. If we truly believe God can do what He says, then we will trust Him and find rest, unlike the Israelites who doomed themselves to wandering in the desert for forty years because of their unbelief.

Hebrews 3:16-19 & 4:1-2 “Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.”

Truths Taught By Priscilla Shirer

-God Is Able

Priscilla Shirer showed us that God is able to surprise us in the midst of our impossible situations. She encouraged us to remember that knowing Who we’re dealing with changes the way we pray. When we pray, we can be confident knowing God has the power to do what we ask. She also encouraged us to pray: “God, do this, or do something better!”

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

-An Abundant Life is Not Free of Difficulty

Priscilla reminded us that God’s abundance is not about experiencing peace because of our circumstances, but in spite of them. We can experience the fullness of God even in the midst of our impossible situations. He is the only dependable constant in our lives in a world that is ever changing.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

-Don’t Just Learn About God; Believe His Word is True for You Personally

Priscilla pointed out the importance of translating the head knowledge we gain from studying God’s word into heart knowledge that causes true life-transformation.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Truths Taught By Beth Moore

-We Must Activate the Mind of Christ

Beth emphasized that anyone who accepts Christ has the ability to have the mind of Christ. She says, “Our challenge is to learn how to activate His mind in our thought processes regarding the reality of our experience.” (p.108)

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

-Discernment Doesn’t Happen By Accident

When the Holy Spirit resides within us, we possess the potential for great discernment, but it is like a muscle that must be exercised to grow stronger. We grow in our discernment through “prayer, pursuit and practice.” (110)

Hebrews 5:13-14 “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

-God’s Spirit Fills Us to the Extent We are Willing to Yield

God will only take us as far as we are willing to let Him go on our spiritual journeys. Without obedience to Him, we prevent ongoing growth from occurring.

John 14:15-16 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

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That is quite a bit of truth to absorb in six weeks of study! I feel like I just made a huge deposit in my “spiritual bank.” How about you? What truths do you want to savor and remember before you move on to the next study? If you’re not attender of Focused Living, what things are you learning right now that you want to remember later? Make a comment below and share with us (click on “leave a comment” at the top of this post and the comment field will appear at the bottom of the post). You can also make a comment on Facebook if you prefer.

I’ll close by making Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in 1:9-11 my prayer for you:

Click on the blue sign below that says “Watch Vimeo” to see the “Deeper Still” testimonies of the three women at Focused Living.

When Praying Expectantly Wears Thin

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. –Proverbs 13:12

California is having its driest winter in the state’s 164-year history. While I know this is bad news for our water supply, I must admit I’m enjoying the dry days, warm weather and clear blue skies. I can’t make it rain, so I might as well enjoy the sunshine. Who could blame me?

Recently our family took advantage of a warm and sunny Saturday to go mountain biking together. My younger son had been asking to ride on a specific trail that he spied a while back, so we thought it was the perfect day to try it. He knew that getting to the fun downhill part would require quite a bit of hill climbing first. I was pretty impressed he wanted to do such a challenging ride. At first the promise of that grand finale on the second half buoyed his spirits as we started our ascent. Pretty soon, however, he started falling behind the rest of us. The excitement for the descent evaporated as his muscles burned and his lungs gasped for air. When he finally reached the top, he’d lost all desire to finish the ride and wanted to turn around and go back the way we came.

I cheered for him as he walked his bike up to where we were waiting and reminded him of his goal. “You can’t stop now, buddy! The trail you’ve been waiting for is coming soon. Just two more small hills and we’ll be on the fun part. You can do it!” I was trying hard to sound positive and encouraging, but he wasn’t buying it.

“This ride is stupid and I don’t want to do it anymore,” he grumbled as he dropped his bike to the ground and sat hunched at a picnic table nearby.

He’d been waiting expectantly for what he thought would be a fun ride, but the journey there was harder than he anticipated. Maybe you can relate. We all have those times when our enthusiasm begins to wear thin the longer our expectations go unmet. I couldn’t help thinking about this as I did the lesson for Week 4, Day 4 of Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still. I love that Priscilla Shirer is encouraging believers to pray big prayers. She says “Knowing God and the resources He’s made available to you … changes not only how you pray but what you feel free to ask God for. You will begin to realize that you don’t have to pray small or with reservation. You can ask the Lord for exactly what you desire no matter how outlandish or impossible it may appear to be” (p.92).

I wholeheartedly believe Priscilla’s words to be true. God can do anything we ask. However, I also know firsthand that “whether God moves is a question of His sovereignty, not His ability. What He does is His business. Believing that He can is our business” (p.94). Sometimes praying expectantly gets tiring, maybe even a little discouraging. Waiting with no clear sense of when a prayer might be answered is hard work when we try to do it on our own strength. Over the years of waiting for different prayers to be answered, I’ve learned some things that have helped me not to lose hope. Below are a few thoughts and verses on how to keep your focus where it needs to be as you pray expectantly and wait for God to reveal His plans to you.

-Keep Your Eyes On God Instead of on the Answer You Seek

It can be easy to fixate on the answer we’re looking for instead of on God. Praising God for who He is and reminding yourself of all Jesus did for you can bring you a peace that is not dependent upon your circumstances or a particular answer you’re seeking.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. –Hebrews 12:1-3

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. –Isaiah 26:3-4

-Maintain An Eternal Perspective

Sometimes we get so consumed with the thing we’re praying for that we forget this world is not our permanent home. It’s helpful to take a step back sometimes and see your situation from a different perspective. We are just passing through this world on our way to our home in heaven. A good question we can ask ourselves to keep in check is: “In the light of eternity, how much does this really matter?”

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

-Remember that God Does Things His Way, Not Yours

It’s easy to focus so much on the outcome we’re expecting that we miss the ways God is already at work in our lives (or even in a particular situation we’re praying for). When we pray expectantly, it’s helpful to take God’s sovereignty into consideration. We need to give Him room to move and work in the way He sees best instead of expecting Him to do things according to the expectations we have.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. –Isaiah 55:8-9

-Focus on Gratitude

When we are praying expectantly about a specific situation, it might be easy to forget all the things God has done or is doing in our lives. It builds our faith and our trust in God when we take time to list the specific things we can already be thankful for in our lives. We can even thank God for how He is working behind the scenes while we wait. In all circumstances, there is something for which we can thank God.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

-Pray for Strength and Confidence in God as You Wait Expectantly

It is okay to admit to God that we are growing weary or that our confidence in Him is waning. We can ask Him to restore our strength, confidence and hope as we wait. We can ask Him to show us what we can be learning as we trust Him for the answers to our prayers. It helps to be honest and admit when we’re struggling and need help adjusting our attitudes.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord  in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord;  be strong and take heart  and wait for the Lord. –Psalm 27:13-14

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. –Psalm 139:23-4

-Let Others Encourage You

It’s always easier to wait for something when we have company. Enlisting a trusted friend to pray with us and to encourage us as we wait for God helps us to stay hopeful. It also keeps us from getting bitter or disillusioned if the answer is taking longer than we think it should.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. –Hebrews 10:23-25

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. –Hebrews 3:12-14

You may be wondering how things turned out for my son on our bike ride. After he regained his strength and listened to our encouraging words, he was willing to get on his bike and continue. At first, he was sullen as he trudged up the next hill pushing his bike, but he was definitely trying harder. Not surprisingly, all of his grumpiness disappeared when we finally reached the trail that wound back down the mountain. When we stopped to enjoy the sweeping views part way down, he was back to his old enthusiastic self and couldn’t wait to keep riding. He led the way down the hill and was thrilled with what he’d accomplished at the end.

I pray that you’ll find hope and courage as you pray expectantly. There can even be joy in the waiting if you’re open to seeing it. God has great things in store, there is no doubt about that.

Click on the song “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller for some further encouragement as you wait.

When God’s Abundance Turns Sour Circumstances Sweet

In Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still Priscilla Shirer says: “As I’ve considered different seasons of my life, it’s occurred to me that I’ve often been waiting on my circumstances to change before feeling like I can experience God’s abundance. We often think: If I can just get out of this season and into the next one, then I know abundance will be waiting for me. If I can just get out of this disappointing, frustrating circumstance I’m in, then I know I’ll experience God’s best” (p.68).

Like Priscilla, this thought process has occurred in different seasons of my life. One time that stands out was my freshman year in college when it felt like all of the comforts and security of home were stripped away from me. Instead of embracing the exciting new phase I’d entered, I grieved the end of my childhood. Making meaningful connections with new friends was a struggle and I longed to be known and valued. I viewed my new surroundings in Southern California with a critical eye and compared everything to home. Nothing met my unrealistically high standards. I thought: If I could just leave this place, I would be happier.

In spite of my struggles, I knew I had to figure out how to make things work. I grew up in a home where “We Don’t Quit” was a motto—I could even picture the paper with my dad’s printing written in green felt pen and pinned to my brother’s bulletin board. I didn’t want to give up so easily after all the hard work of getting into college and I certainly didn’t want to disappoint my family.

So, in the midst of my intense loneliness, I turned to God– the only One I felt really knew and loved me in this strange place so far from home. For the first time in my life I needed and wanted to spend time studying His word to find truths that would sustain and encourage me. I poured out my heart in prayer, sharing my struggles and heartaches. I listened to Christian music at night as I fell asleep. It bathed my mind with God’s comforting promises, which seemed more relevant to me than they ever had before.

As the school year progressed, I slowly began to accept my new surroundings, to find friends and to enjoy Christian fellowship. By the time my parents came to collect me in June, I realized that I was leaving a little piece of me behind as we drove up back to Northern California. More importantly, my relationship with God was stronger and deeper than it had ever been in my life.

In the midst of my misery and loneliness, I’d discovered the abundance of God’s love and the reassurance of knowing that He would always be with me. By removing me from the comfort and security of my earthly home, He showed me that my ultimate comfort and security came first and foremost from Him. God took my sour outlook and sweetened it slowly as He revealed Himself to me during that difficult year.

There have been many other times when I’ve struggled through hard things. Difficulties are always going to pop up, but that doesn’t mean we just have to grit our teeth and white-knuckle our way through them. God is there with us and has things to show us through our struggles. Priscilla Shirer says it well: “The abundant life is not when no impossible situations occur and you’re experiencing peace, joy, and happiness. While that’s nice, true abundance is really seen when you’re sitting in a prison circumstance, when you’re eye to eye with an impossible situation, and right in the heart of your impossible, you experience the fullness of God” (p.69).

Seven years ago I found myself staring impossible right in the face and felt hopeless to do anything about it. My Dad’s health was rapidly deteriorating as a debilitating neurological disease ravaged his mind and body. Although we loved each other, we’d never had a great relationship. We’d both made feeble attempts to connect at various times in life, but they never produced much. As I watched him decline, I despaired that I’d lost the chance to develop a close relationship with him because of his compromised state.

And then, right in the heart of impossible, God showed up and made the last two weeks of my Dad’s life our sweetest time together. He gave me the courage to initiate sharing thoughts with my Dad that I’d never been able to verbalize before. Although his ability to think and speak was painfully slow, he responded and we had several tender conversations. It was the first time we shared honestly how we felt about each other without the usual awkwardness or sarcasm that characterized our relationship. By the time my dad passed away I had a peace about our relationship that had eluded me for my entire life. I’d thought my Dad’s illness had eliminated any possibility of having a meaningful connection with him, but God used it to bring us together in a way I never would have anticipated.

Ironically, the relationship with my dad that had been such a source of pain and hopelessness for me was the catalyst that launched me into sharing my writing with others. After my dad passed away, I wrote about our final days together and submitted it for consideration in an anthology of short stories. To my surprise, the story was chosen and published in 2013 in a book called When God Makes Lemonade: True Stories that Amaze and Encourage. I was humbled to discover that God often uses the hardest things in our lives to reveal Himself to us. Reading the book has showed me the authors of the other stories experienced something similar.

The truth is we get access to God’s power when we lay our weaknesses and difficulties at His feet. The apostle Paul knew this when he wrote 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10:

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

When we take our hard circumstances and our weaknesses and entrust them to Jesus, we invite Him to bring change. Sometimes He changes the hard things we’re dealing with, sometimes He gives us the courage to take action, but often He changes our perspectives more than anything else. There is no circumstance too large or too small for Him. Paul tells us God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). We can have great hope remembering that He can go beyond our wildest imaginings.

Is there a sour circumstance in your life? Maybe something that seems impossible to change? God can and will work to bring sweetness to it in His perfect timing. He is able. Are you willing to let Him show you?

For added perspective on this topic, click on the link to listen to Laura Story’s song “Blessings.” It will show you how God uses hard situations to change us and to show us a new perspective.

The Rest of Faith

“Twenty-six days until Christmas!” My twelve-year old son announced gleefully as we pulled into the driveway after a Thanksgiving trip visiting family. I could feel the knot of dread forming in my stomach. Christmas was less than a month away and I had not done one thing to prepare. It felt like the train was leaving the station and I was standing on the platform watching it go. On top of that, I was already worn out and not looking forward to jumping back into the regular responsibilities of daily life. I was feeling heavy hearted and discouraged that some old frustrations were re-surfacing after I thought they’d been resolved. Suffice it to say, it was not a good way to kick off the Christmas season.

I woke up early the next morning with my mind swimming. There were so many things I needed to do, I felt overwhelmed with where to begin. Knowing I wasn’t going to fall back to sleep, I pulled back the covers and decided I might as well be productive in spite of my lack of energy. I could already sense I was starting the day off on the wrong foot and realized before I tackled any tasks, I needed some time alone in God’s word and prayer. I grabbed my Bible study book and thumbed through to Week Two, Day Four in Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still. I had to laugh as I read the title “The Rest of Faith.” I’d never fully understood this phrase before and certainly wasn’t experiencing it at that moment. Did “rest” mean “remainder” as in “the rest of the story”? Or did it literally mean “peace of mind or spirit?” As I delved into Kay Arthur’s study it was as if the lesson had been written specifically for me to read on that very day.

The study examines the passage in Hebrews 3:7- 4:3. In case you don’t have a Bible handy, here it is:

So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts  as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,  and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

“Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts  as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger,  ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.

Before diving into an explanation of the passage, the lesson directed me to read Numbers 13 & 14, which is the story that the Hebrews passage refers to in chapters 3 & 4. The Numbers passage describes the Israelites arriving at the Promised Land (the first time). In the Numbers story, 12 spies are sent by Moses to scout out the land for 40 days. Upon returning, they report that the land is flowing with milk and honey, just as God had promised. However, ten of the spies finish the description of the bountiful land with foreboding: “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large” (Numbers 13:28). Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, advise the Israelites to go through with God’s plan. In Numbers 14:7-9, Joshua and Caleb say to the people:

“The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

Instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb, the people cry out against them and ultimately, against God. Because of this rebellion, God declares that the Israelites will wander in the desert for 40 years, one year for every day the spies scouted out the land. Further, He strikes the 10 spies who had given a bad report with a plague and they die immediately. Out of all the adults over 20, only Joshua and Caleb survive and live to enter God’s rest in the Promised Land 40 years later. (You may remember the story of their second time entering the Promised Land from my earlier blog and/ or the live talk at Focused Living entitled “Finding Your 20 Seconds of Courage.”)

Kay Arthur points out how sad it is that “instead of believing and trusting God and His Word, [the Israelites] threw a tantrum of unbelief that cost them 40 years of wandering in the wilderness…Only Joshua and Caleb were spared, and that is because they were the two spies who believed in God” (p. 47).

Contrast the fear of the people with the reassurance that Caleb tries to provide them: “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30). Kay explains: “This… is the rest of faith…Rest is uniting the Word of faith and living in it at that very moment. It’s the action of faith for today—for this moment, this situation” (p.47). According to Hebrews 3:19, the Israelites were disobedient because they showed unbelief. This is what prevented them from entering into God’s rest in the Promised Land. For them, the rest would have been both literal (not having to wander in the desert anymore) and figurative (having spiritual peace).

Hebrews tells us we do not have to make the same mistake the Israelites made. “For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said” (Hebrews 4:3). We enter into God’s rest when we accept Christ as our Savior, and we continue to enter into His rest every time we show Him we believe His word to be true through our actions and attitudes. Entering God’s rest starts with one decision and then becomes an ongoing series of choices in our lives daily.

Belief in God shows by our actions. This boils down to a simple question: Do we live like we believe? If so, we should be receiving His rest. For me, that means spending less time trying to work things out on my own wisdom and spending more time seeking God. Once I’ve laid a situation at His feet, my job is to trust Him by resting in Him. In my life, this has more to do with a change of focus than anything else.

The morning that I woke up with a bad attitude, heavy with discouragement and totally unprepared for Christmas, I had to do some serious soul-searching. I was convicted that if I really believed the Christmas season was about celebrating the birth of Jesus, then I had no reason to be stressed and anxious. I’d lost my focus by worrying about all of the tasks that seemed so daunting to me.

The start of the Christmas season is often accompanied by a ramp up of stress for many people. The holidays tend to accentuate areas in our lives where we don’t have peace. It could be something simple such as worrying about all of the shopping, decorating and cooking to be done. It could be something deeper. The holidays often exacerbate loneliness or shine a spotlight on difficult relationships. Sometimes they remind us of our weaknesses when we succumb to the temptation to eat and drink too much. They might emphasize the inadequacy we feel when our bank accounts can’t cover the purchases we want to make. For those struggling with depression, the dark days of December and the swirl of activity can make their spirits descend even further. Sadly, there are many of us who feel exempt from the Angels’ pronouncement in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Regardless of the circumstance in our lives that rob us of our peace, God invites us to believe His promises and to find rest in Him. Scroll back up and take a look at the photo at the top of this posting. That sleeping little boy is my younger son when he was two–the same one who is now twelve that I mentioned earlier. He was so worn out after a busy day he’d spontaneously fallen asleep on the couch. He had no choice but to enter into the deep rest he so desperately needed. That’s what the rest of faith is all about- relinquishing our need to control and trusting God to work in His perfect timing.

If you find yourself feeling weary and worn, let the song below bring you some encouragement. You are not alone—let God’s redemptive power work in you as you trust Him to give you exactly what you need for each moment.

Click here to listen to “Worn” by Tenth Avenue North.

The Spiritual Nutrients in the Bread of Life

I grew up in a household that placed a high value on knowing and studying the Bible. It wasn’t so much in what my parents said as in what they did to show us their priorities. Throughout my childhood I watched my parents devote themselves to participating in weekly Bible studies that required a fair amount of homework. I can remember coming home from school to find my mom at the kitchen table with her papers spread all over as she pored over her enormous “parallel” Bible (four translations in one book). Any time I stayed home sick, I couldn’t watch TV until my mom had finished listening to her favorite Bible teachers on the radio. This was a daily activity for her as she worked in the kitchen or did housework while all of us kids were at school. It seemed boring to me at the time, but her actions influenced me more than I realized.

Looking back, I see my parents treated studying the Bible as a priority in their schedules. It wasn’t drudgery or something they did because the “had” to do it. And it wasn’t a luxury that they did only when they’d finished all of the other “important” tasks that demanded their time. It was just woven into the fabric of their schedules.

When my oldest son was born, one of my goals for my first year at home with him was to find a Bible study. Following my parents’ example, I wanted to immerse myself in God’s word with more discipline and consistency than I had before. It has been fourteen years since I set out to get serious about studying the Bible. I’ve been blessed to see the benefits of pursuing that goal. The more I’ve studied it, the more I’ve realized what a rich and layered book it is. And the more I’ve studied, the more I’ve changed, grown and gained wisdom as God has revealed Himself to me through the pages of His holy word.

Once I started seeing positive results, I was motivated to keep pushing myself further. Old things that used to seem appealing suddenly weren’t as enticing anymore. Each new truth I discovered opened my eyes to God’s character, goodness and grace, causing me to love Him more and to be grateful for all He’d done for me. His word gave me hope and strength in hard times and confidence to be stretched in new ways. Studying with others who had similar goals also helped me on the road to growing deeper.

Making time to study the Bible has not always been easy. Over the years I’ve crossed paths with many people like me who have faced challenges in their quest to know and live God’s word. Here are three of the most prevalent issues students of the Bible face:

Viewing Studying the Bible as Drudgery

Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the mindset of thinking studying scripture is something we “should” do because it’s good for us. Kind of like eating your vegetables when you’re a kid. Yet, in 2 Timothy, Paul says: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) If we dabble in Bible study and view it as drudgery, this makes it difficult to handle the word of truth correctly. If we’re doing it just to check it off our “to do” lists, chances are it’s not really impacting our lives much.

The writer of Hebrews describes it this way: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good from evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

Viewing Studying the Bible as a Luxury

Kay Arthur comments in the Session 1 video of Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still that “we’re so entangled with the affairs of this life that we’re not studying the Word of God as we ought to.” Sometimes we view time studying the Bible as a luxury or a “bonus” that we can indulge once we’ve gotten all of our “important” tasks finished. When I get up in the morning I’m often tempted to check my phone or computer before I open my Bible. However, when I do this I usually get sucked into the day’s events and neglect that quiet time in God’s word I so desperately need. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) Just like we need food every day, we need God’s word every day. It’s not a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Losing Focus with Priorities

Sometimes I joke that the problem with America is that we have too many choices. There are so many things vying for our time and attention that seem good, important or just plain fun. We fill our schedules full and then complain that we “don’t have time” for studying the Bible. We’re so busy doing that we’ve forgotten how to be. Many Christians find disciplined study of the Bible infringes on their schedules in light of all their other obligations. When they do find themselves with “down time,” they are too exhausted for the serious study that leads to maturity.

Yet, in Hebrews 2:1, we see an important reminder: “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Paying careful attention requires time, effort and commitment. Reading, studying and knowing the Bible needs to be woven into the fabric of our daily lives, not something we do haphazardly when we have a few extra minutes. When we let other priorities take precedence over studying God’s word, we don’t grow and mature as we’re meant to and we forego the vital spiritual nutrients we need to survive.

Ideas for Realigning Our Focus

Most of us have probably found ourselves in one or all of the categories above at different points in our lives. Read below to diagnose your current challenge and to get some practical ideas for getting back on track.

Drudgery: It may feel like drudgery when we’re more motivated by outward influences. If you find yourself feeling “guilty” for not studying the Bible more, it might have more to do with worrying what others think than really wanting to know God’s word. Perhaps you are someone who just plain doesn’t like reading, studying and doing homework. If either of these describes you, pray and ask God to increase your desire for His word and to help you see and feel why studying it is beneficial.

Luxury: If your problem is viewing studying the Bible as a luxury, try fasting from food for a day. (I’m serious). Every time your stomach rumbles, you’ll be reminded that food is a necessity, not a luxury, just like God’s word.

Prioritizing Your Time: If you struggle with making time in God’s word a priority, try evaluating your schedule. Take an honest look at how you spent your time in the last week. Are there moments that you could have used more wisely? In my life, screens can often be major time-suckers- whether it is checking e-mail, scanning Facebook, researching something online, relaxing in front of the TV or checking my phone. If you can relate, try to put time studying the Bible before these activities instead of saving it for after. Or, try turning off screens half an hour earlier so you can get up in the morning and start your day in God’s word.

Whatever might be keeping you from delving into the Bible more deeply, I encourage you to seek God’s help and ask a trusted friend to keep you accountable.

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things” (Philippians 3:13b-15a).

What tips do you have for encouraging others to be disciplined in their study of God’s Word? Take a moment to comment and let us know.

Finding Your Twenty Seconds of Courage

Throughout the story of Gideon we see moments of incredible bravery when Gideon had to step out in faith to trust God. Gideon’s weakness became a conduit to reveal God’s incredible strength. In each pivotal moment of Gideon’s story, he had to take the first step in deciding whether he would follow God’s plan or cower in his own weakness. I like to think about those crucial twenty seconds of courage in each terrifying situation he faced: tearing down his father’s altar to Ba’al, accepting military leadership despite his lack of experience, sending home 31,700 soldiers despite the 135,000 Midianites he was called to attack, and entering battle with only 300 men armed with nothing more than clay jars, torches and trumpets.

What we need to realize is that we have access to that same power Gideon had. We have opportunities every day to entrust our weaknesses to God and to watch how He gives us strength to accomplish His purposes.

This whole idea of “Twenty Seconds of Courage” was inspired in me by watching the movie We Bought a Zoo. Check out the clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmMFIganRQY

Matt Damon’s character says these inspiring words: “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally, twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery and I promise you, something great will come of it.” When we trust God to give us 20 seconds of courage to obey Him, it can transform our lives for good and impact others in powerful ways.

Gideon was not the only one who stepped out in faith relying on God’s strength in the midst of his weakness. Let’s look at a few other people in the Bible who did this to see if we can discover how they found the courage to step out in faith when the odds were against them.

Joshua:

One of my favorite stories takes place in Joshua, Chapter 3. Joshua has just become the new leader of the Children of Israel after Moses’ death. Imagine how daunting it must have been to come after Moses, the man who spoke directly to God and led the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land. That is probably why God tells Joshua three times in Joshua 1 “Be strong and courageous.”

His task in Joshua 3 is to lead roughly two million Jews across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. The biggest problem is that this is during flood stage and the swollen river was probably several hundred yards across. God instructs Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the river and to trust that He will hold back the waters. Imagine the twenty seconds of courage it must’ve taken Joshua to tell the priests the plan! Amazingly, the priests agree to the plan and God parts the waters to allow all of the people to walk on dry ground and pass safely into the Promised Land.

I’d guess that Joshua’s courage came from his past experiences with Yahweh. He’d seen God part the Red Sea in Exodus 14, he’d seen him provide manna for the people throughout their forty years wandering in the desert (see Exodus 16 for the first occurrence), and he’d won a battle against the Amalekites against amazing odds. This passage describing that battle is too good not to share:

“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.’”

God wanted to make sure Joshua remembered this amazing victory so that he would have courage to lead in the future.

The bottom line? Joshua found his twenty seconds of courage through remembering God’s faithfulness in the past.

Jehoshaphat:

The story of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 might be one of my favorites of all time. In earlier chapters, we learn that Jehoshaphat was a king who honored God by removing the high places and Asherah poles from Judah. He also valued God’s word and sent officials throughout Judah to teach the Book of the Law to the people.

In chapter 20, Jehoshaphat learns that a vast army is marching to attack Judah. I love his response in verses 3-4:

“Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”

Jehoshaphat’s impulse wasn’t to gather his military advisors, count his troops or inventory the weapons in Judah’s arsenal. His impulse was to seek God. He gathers his people together to pray and fast. In his public prayer before all the people, he doesn’t’ start by pleading with God to save Judah, instead, he praises God’s power. Next, he proclaims God’s past deeds. He finally gets around to presenting God with his problem and then shows ultimate humility by admitting his position of powerlessness. In verse 12 he says:

“We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

The next day God sends Jehoshaphat to meet his enemies. The prophet who shares God’s plan reassures Jehoshaphat by saying in 20:17:

“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”

In 20:21 Jeshoshaphat follows God plan and marches out to battle after appointing men to go out at the head of the army singing: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

Much like the story of Gideon, God causes the enemies to turn on one another and by the time Jehoshaphat and his army arrive the enemies have all destroyed one another. All that is left for Jehoshaphat and his men to do is collect the plunder.

The bottom line? Jehoshaphat found his twenty seconds of courage through praising God.

Peter:

The story of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33 is one of my favorites from the New Testament. I love the fact that he was the only disciple with enough courage to ask Jesus to enable him to walk on water when he saw Jesus walking on the waves towards the boat. Even though Peter does falter for a moment when he lets the wind and the waves take his eyes off Jesus, he remembers where to turn for help in verse 30:

“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”

Much like Jehoshaphat, he knew that in his powerlessness, God was the only one who could save him. Just how did Peter become so trusting of Jesus that he was willing to step out of the boat into the storm tossed waters? I turned to the beginning of the book of Matthew to see what events took place prior to this one. It’s quite an impressive list. Here are a few of the things that happened earlier in the story:

-He saw Jesus heal the sick (Matt 4)

-He heard Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7)

-He saw Jesus calm a storm (Matt 8)

-He saw Jesus heal two demon-possessed men (Matt 8)

-He saw Jesus heal a paralytic (Matt 9)

-He saw Jesus raise a girl from death (Matt 9)

-He was sent out to preach, heal, raise dead, cleans lepers and drive out demons (Matt 10)

-He saw Jesus feed a crowd 5000 people using 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (Matt 14)

Peter had already witnessed Jesus doing amazing things. He had developed a relationship of love and trust and knew that through Jesus he could do seemingly impossible things. The bottom line? Peter’s twenty seconds of courage came through trusting Jesus.

There are several common threads that we can see between the characters in all three stories.

1. All three knew and valued God’s Word

2. All three shared God’s truth with others

3. All three knew God was capable of doing more than they could do on their own

4. All three knew their own weaknesses

5. All three impacted others using God’s strength

6. All three had personal and intimate relationships with God

7. All three led courageously in seemingly impossible situations

Here is the best part: None of the things on this list are specific to a particular person, culture or time period. All of them can be true of us today as much as they were for Joshua, Jehoshaphat and Peter.

As we wrap up our study of Gideon, what will be different in your life going forward? What areas do you need to work on so that you’ll be ready when God calls you to step out to give Him 20 seconds of courage?

Our moments of courage can be large or small, but each one matters to God. Do you sense God nudging you in some way that may seem frightening?

-Maybe He’s calling you to pick up the phone and mend a broken relationship

-Maybe He’s prompting you to speak an encouraging word to someone who is outside of your comfort zone

-Maybe He’s calling you to invite a friend or neighbor to church or Bible study

-Maybe He’s nudging you to open your home to someone in need

-Maybe He’s telling you to say “no” to a few commitments that will enable you to spend more time with Him or studying His word

-Maybe He’s prompting you to spend more time pouring into others or less time with people who are dragging you down

-Maybe He’s calling you to go on that Missions trip you’ve been talking about for years

-Maybe He’s inviting you to trust Him with your finances and tithe or give sacrificially

-Maybe He’s nudging you to make that appointment with a Christian counselor that you’ve been putting off

-Maybe He’s telling you to use that Spiritual Gift you know you have but have been afraid to use

The list could go on. The point is, any act of bravery requires that first twenty seconds of courage to get started. Are you up for it? When you look back at the story of your life, what things do you see God has given you to draw on for courage? Are you ready to give Him your weakness and watch Him turn it into His strength? Post a comment and let us know!

Your Weakness Lets God’s Strength Shine Through

I started teaching high school at the tender age of 23– only five years after graduating from high school myself. Being a new teacher was hard. What made matters worse was that I looked like I could’ve been one of the students. I decided that the best way to gain respect was to hide my weaknesses and insecurities. I thought the students and parents would look down on me if I didn’t appear to have all the answers and everything “together” all the time. Even among the other faculty members, I felt wary about sharing struggles. I spent a lot of time compensating for my weaknesses and trying to cover them up. That year I found myself in the staff lounge bathroom from time to time crying my eyes out over some difficulty I was facing. Too proud to admit the truth, I’d blame my red, watery eyes on “allergies” if anyone approached me with concern for my wellbeing.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that admitting weaknesses is not only healthy and human– it’s also biblical. To think I can do things on my own without God is simply foolish pride. Maybe that’s why the story of Gideon appeals to me so much. There’s no doubt he was weak. He didn’t have the credentials needed to engage in battle against a formidable enemy—and that is exactly why God chose him.

Another reason I like Gideon is that he needed reassurance from God several times before he acted. Just before entering battle against the Midianites with his puny army of 300, God blessed Gideon with the chance to overhear a Midianite soldier talking with his tent mate about a dream he had. When Gideon overheard the dream and learned the men feared him and the army of Israel, he was greatly encouraged. The story below picks up just after this in Judges 7:15-21.

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

I love imagining the sound of the shattering pottery and the shouts of the soldiers. I can just picture the shimmering light produced by the flames of 300 torches strategically placed in a circle on the hills surrounding the Midianite camp. The small band of soldiers had been too far apart to see one another as they waited in the dark for the signal. Imagine their triumph at the sound of the trumpet and the lights they all held high in the darkness.

These men did not fight with the traditional weapons of battle, yet God used their uncommon weapons to achieve a stunning victory. On paper, nothing about their plan worked from a worldly perspective- they didn’t have the manpower or the tools to achieve victory, but they had God on their side.

“The weaknesses we often despise are required for the light of Christ to be seen and for the darkness around us to be dispelled. Without the limitations and deficiencies of our vessels, we would not serve our purpose well. Your weakness is not a liability. It is one of your greatest assets. God’s presence and power are best seen when our large, impressive personalities aren’t getting in the way. So welcome His light into your weakness, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!” (Priscilla Shirer, Gideon, p. 125)

So, how does this look for those of us living in the 21^st century? First and foremost, we need to recognize our weaknesses and realize they need to be surrendered to God.

For me, the process of seeing my weaknesses took quite a while. Throughout my teens and twenties, I struggled with insecurity. I’d grown so accustomed to it that I just assumed it was a part of who I was. Never once had I considered asking God to use it for His glory. I did my best to compensate for it in many ways- whether by trying to achieve more academically, to wear the “right” clothes, to associate with the “right” people or to hold positions of power and respect. While none of these things were necessarily “bad,” none of them helped to alleviate my insecurity. (Thus, the crying in the bathroom when I was a new teacher). Sadly, my compensating made me more intimidating and less approachable as I tried harder and harder to be “perfect” so that I would feel more secure.

It was not until after I had kids and participated in my first Beth Moore Bible study that I ever realized insecurity was a weakness I could submit to God. As I began to pray about it, God started to change me. He didn’t miraculously remove it from my life, but He used it to make me more sensitive to others. I began realizing that insecurity is a pervasive issue in our culture and that many women struggle with it. God showed me many ways Satan uses it to keep women from connecting with one another because they feel too threatened and intimidated. Insecurity prevents many of us from living into the people God is calling us to be. It causes us to put up unhealthy facades that prevent authentic connection. It renders our gifts useless and often leaves us feeling like outsiders with nothing to offer. Few Bible teachers address this issue, so it remains a silent struggle for many.

I still remember the first time I admitted that I battled with insecurity publically. I’d been asked to sit on a panel of women at our weekly Focused Living Bible Study. Each panelist was asked to share about an area in her life where she needed God’s intervention on a regular basis. I had a “safe” answer prepared in my head, but when the microphone was handed to me, I horrified myself by blurting out “I struggle with insecurity.” My face was red and my hands were shaking as I passed the microphone on to the next panelist. Inside, I was kicking myself for being so vulnerable.

To my surprise, when the panel ended several women made a beeline for me and thanked me for sharing aloud what they‘d been struggling with for years. Each woman thought she was the only one. When I let my clay vessel crack open and I exposed my weakness, the light of God’s love used my honesty to encourage others. The weakness I’d been hiding and trying to compensate for in a variety of ways became the very thing God used to make me more authentic, approachable and encouraging to others with similar struggles.

Whether or not we like to admit it, we’re all just simple clay vessels like those earthen pots the soldiers carried to battle. Your weaknesses may be different from mine, but you have something God can use for His glory, if only you’ll surrender it to Him. With the Holy Spirit living within us, God can use our weaknesses to shine His light to a dark world in desperate need of a Savior.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, ”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

Click on the link below to hear Matthew West’s song “Strong Enough,” to be reminded that God’s strength trumps your weakness.

Click on the link below to hear Josh Wilson’s “Pushing Back the Dark.” You’ll be inspired to give your weaknesses to God and to watch how He uses them to shine His light to the world through you!

Category: Trusting God

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