Tag: Faithful Abundant True

Depositing God’s Truth in Your Spiritual Bank

IMG_6452

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.”

————————————————————————————————————

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:

“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.” 

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

The Rest of Faith

Kyle Sleeping '03

“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.’ ”

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. As has just been said:

“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

IMG_6246

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.