Still here — recommending an article

Posted by Ann at 5:43 pm Bible Study, Scripture

Mar 222013

Yes, believe it or not, I’m still here. I have just not been very verbose lately…

And I’m still not prepared to do a full post. But I came across a blog post that I have to share, because it is exactly the sort of thing I try to talk about on here, when I am in fact talking.

Stop Taking Jeremiah 29:11 Out of Context

BY THOMAS TURNER
MARCH 22, 2013
It’s one of our favorite verses—but we’ve gotten it all wrong.

The article is a much-needed wake-up call about the use of this beloved verse…perhaps it’s too beloved. Mr. Turner reminds us to not claim it as a verse for individuals but to remember the context of where the verse is found.

I have struggled with this verse at times. It certainly would be comforting to say that all of God’s plans for me are going to be for me to prosper and not be harmed. I would like to claim that as a promise, just as anyone would. But the fact is His plans may mean I don’t prosper, or I might be harmed. This verse is about a much bigger plan than what happens to little ol’ me.

We can often be characterized by finding what we want to find in the Bible, rather than using an objective means for interpretation. I think we women may be more prone to that than men. Our spiritual walk can become so emotion-driven that we neglect basic practices of Biblical study.

Mr. Turner says it so much better than I can, and his article is definitely worth reading. I particular like his last paragraph:

Even more important than our decision about which college to attend, which city to move to or what job offer to take is the future hope of the Kingdom of God foretold by the prophets and fulfilled in the reign of our now and coming King. In this way, the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 is bigger than any one of us—and far better.

Even so, Lord Jesus.

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Danger, Will Robinson!

Posted by Ann at 10:41 am Bible Study, Scripture

Nov 272012

I am doing a national online Bible study, and today’s given passage for study was John 1:9-12:

There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name… (NASB)

Notice the dots at the end of verse? I put them there, because the end of verse 12 is not actually the end of the sentence.

Why do people in charge of Bible studies do this? Why do they pick only a portion of a sentence to study?

Here’s the passage again, this time with the completed sentence:

John 1:9-13: There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Do you see the HUGE difference in meaning that is derived when comparing the two selections? In the first, without verse 13, it seems as if man is doing the work of “receiving/believing”; when verse 13 is added, it becomes obvious that God alone determines who does so.

This is a prime example of what I am talking about when I say that we as Christian women have to be careful to accurately handle God’s Word. Even an otherwise-solid Bible study group will “edit” Scripture, if you will. And this is the type of thing that happens all too frequently these days, as we seek to avoid conflict and make things easy for everyone. Unfortunately, in this case the difference in meaning is very large, and now you have thousands of women in the study who are left with only half an understanding.

Trust me, I am well aware of my OWN fallibility. I have never gone to seminary or even Bible college. I know that I have blind spots in my own theology and Bible study methods. I am not claiming to be someone who knows more than anyone else.

But this one is not even that difficult to discern. It should be obvious that you can’t truly understand the meaning of a passage without looking at the ENTIRE passage.

All I’m saying is: Gals, be careful. In this day and age it is becoming easier and easier to give into emotionalism and muddy thinking—and sloppy Bible study. Let’s each one work even harder at “Being a Woman of the Bible.”

Image courtesy of FrameAngel / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Surrender

Posted by Ann at 9:46 am Encouragement, God's Sovereignty

Nov 262012

“All to Thee my precious Savior…”

I’ve been working lately on an attitude of surrender.

This one is a toughie for me. I like to control. I like to know how things are going to turn out. I like to know how we’re going to get from here to there.

Our culture today absolutely fire-hoses us with the “strong female.” It seems to be “in” to portray men as bumbling idiots and women as the only ones who know how to get things done. It’s not good to let Pepper Potts remain as the assistant; she has to become CEO—because Tony Stark is too irresponsible to handle the job. And don’t even get me started on Black Widow. This woman can take down six men in the time it takes your average Joe to handle one. And he’s breathing heavy when he’s done, while she is headed onward to find the bad guy. (I just watched Iron Man 2 last night; can you tell?)

Even in Christian novels, we find women who “know their own minds,” who are flouting the “man-centered system” to break new ground. Whether she’s a newspaper woman in the late 1800′s or a contractor in the present day, the woman definitely does not allow a man, even her father, to tell her what to do. Yet she’s a believer, and I guess we are left to assume that somehow magically she will develop the ability to submit to her husband after marriage.

Today my husband gave me a gift. It wasn’t a total surprise; we had talked about it enough that when he showed up with it, the first words out of my mouth were, “Oh, you got it!” But it is the second sentence that I am ashamed of. I said, “It’s not the silver color that I wanted…” And yes, the one he got me was the all-black, rather than the black and silver. And I really liked the one with the silver, but it cost $25 more. But I thought maybe he would spring for that to make me happy—but he didn’t. And that also was no surprise, we had also talked about that, but I was still hoping just maybe…but no.

And of course, me being me, the one who likes to control, I had to let that little sentence slip out to make it clear I wished he had gotten the silver. And even though I went on to express appreciation for the gift itself, and I totally know and understand why he got the all-black (money wasn’t the only consideration)…hours later, part of me is still struggling that I didn’t get what I wanted. Part of me is still not wanting to surrender control of this issue to someone other than me.

This is nothing new, is it? God told Eve in the garden that she would want to control her man. And whether in big ways or small, I think it is something that many other women besides me struggle with.

But I don’t want to be a “strong female” any more. I want to be flexible, willing to bend, giving up my will, quiet and gentle. I want to be FEMININE, in the old-fashioned understanding of the word. I am getting fed up with a culture that scoffs at this as ignorant and un-enlightened.

So I have begun thinking about this in terms of surrender. Yes, surrender to my husband. Surrender to the belief that he is trying to do what’s best for me. Surrender to the idea that he knew what I wanted but chose something else because he thought it was in my best interests to have what he chose rather than what I chose.

But more importantly, surrender to God and His will. In the grand scheme of things, the color of my gift is just SO not important. Giving up control of that little detail gives me practice in giving up control of the big picture. Because God will do what He will do, and what we think is best is often not what He thinks is best. As I write this, one of my good friends has a child in the hospital with a brain aneurism needing surgery; is this type of thing controllable by any one of us? Of course not. We must surrender, firm in the belief that God’s lovingkindness is superintending it all and will meet us and keep us as we walk through the trial.

As this idea continues to percolate in my mind, I’m guessing there will be more posts about it. Stay tuned!

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It’s Not Rocket Science

Posted by Ann at 2:20 pm Scripture

Nov 012012

Today is the day I bare one of my secret sins. Be gentle with me, people.

There was an argument between my husband and I, many years ago now, that I remember very well. We had had many arguments before, and we have had many since, sinners that we are–but this one stands out in my memory because of something my husband said. He said, “Don’t do that again.”

He was referring to my having a temper tantrum. Yes, I have had them; I have pitched fits that would rival a two-year-old’s. I would love to pour out all my rationalizations here, but the truth is that for a long while I was characterized by yelling, screaming, kicking things across the room, etc. when I did not get my way or did not think I was being listened to. Not every day, mind you, but probably at least once a month. And yes, some of them were undoubtedly hormone-related, but that is not an excuse. And there truly is NO excuse that’s good enough to outweigh the damage that was done in my marriage and family by my lack of self-control.

Until the day The Man said, “Don’t do that again.”

I can still remember his voice and his demeanor and the look on his face. He meant what he said. Not in a threatening way, but in a way that made me take him very seriously. And he was right. So I made a very distinct and willful effort to not allow myself to lose it like that. I prayed about it, I studied Scriptures, I even fasted. It was a very large sin in my life and I wanted it gone.

Fast forward 15 years or so. In my reading recently I reached Colossians 3:8, which says, “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

I was struck by how simple the command is. It says, in effect, “Don’t do these again.” Set them aside and don’t pick them back up. Just choose not to do them. It’s not rocket science.

We love to make excuses why it’s not that simple to do, don’t we? “My husband or kids won’t listen to me if I don’t raise my voice.” “My period is due in the next few days and I am always grouchy then.” “I’m hungry/tired/don’t feel good/have a headache.” “There’s too much going on.” Etc. etc.

The fact is, we find it easier to give in to the anger than to fight against it. The abusive speech comes easier than the gentle speech does. We think we need to control the situation, and in our foolish logic, we think exhibiting anger and abusive speech will bring us that control.

But God says, “Don’t do that again.” And He means it. Will we submit to Him or continue to make excuses for why we think we cannot?

I would love to say I have never had a temper tantrum since that day. That would be a lie. In fact, there is a hole of fairly recent vintage in the drywall of our hallway, about backwards-kick height high, that reminds me of how fallible I am, every time I walk by it. (Sigh.) But I am no longer characterized by this type of behavior; it is now of fairly rare occurrence–for which I am extremely thankful.

Believe me when I tell you that growth as a Christian, especially the eradication of persistent sin, is never easy.

But it IS simple. Just submit your heart to God’s Word as found in the Bible. Stop making excuses and rationalizations and relying on your own logic. Bow down before your Creator and allow Him to change you from the inside. When you find yourself failing, repent and begin again. I’ve had to do that about a gazillion times.

Our culture bombards us with ways of thinking that emphasize the quick, easy, and self-centered. It’s all about instant gratification. The Bible says the opposite. It says to “fight the good fight” (1 Tim 6:12) and “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). This is something that must involve our entire being. When God says, “Don’t do it again,” we need to respond with whole-hearted effort.

It’s not about what we want, or think, or feel—it’s about what God says.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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The Slippery Slope

Posted by Ann at 7:42 am Scripture

Oct 182012

I lost my writing moxie for awhile.

It may still be gone; I don’t know. All I do know is for awhile there I felt like I had nothing to say.

But as I have been, well, not writing, I have been cogitating. The wheels have still been going ’round, grinding thoughts and ideas and behaviors, evaluating what I read and see and hear and taste…and one upshot of it all is that I believe spending my time writing is a better use of it than doing a lot of other things would be. And so I am here today, perhaps out of a sense of duty to use my time well, but also because “when I see something that I don’t like—I gotta say it” (Sheryl Crowe).

And what I gotta say today comes back to the purpose of this blog. But first let me tell a short story:

Last week I was involved in a discussion on a Christian blog. The woman had written a post about a decision she had made in her life, a decision that seems very honorable and self-sacrificing and good—except that her decision wasn’t based on Scripture, but rather on her emotions, the expectations of American culture, and her own short-term experience. I wrote a comment expressing the other side, wondering about where Scripture fit into her decision. And I was opposed by several readers who in the course of several back-and-forth comments proceeded to criticize me for misinterpreting Scripture and being contradictory and harboring emotionalism—among other things. Which is fine—if they could back up their own points. But throughout all of the disagreement, not one of them used any Scripture at all—not once!–and when I explained my own interpretation of Scripture by defining words, using more Scripture, and applying context, they were unable to come up with anything other than their own insistence on their rightness and my wrongness.

Because they, like so many other Christians out there today, are buying into the modern-day culture and norms more than they are committed to Scripture. And when the two seem to be in opposition to each other, they are chucking the Scripture as being too out-dated, or they are finding a way to reinterpret it so it doesn’t really mean what it says. They want to make it kinder, gentler, more full of grace, less difficult.

And that is why I am back here today. Because Scripture is God’s Word, and we need all the reminders we can get to use it wisely and well—or we will become “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). As many Christians already are, in so many ways.

A few months ago I heard an amazing message on Romans 12:1-2. In it, the pastor defined what is meant by the phrase “to be conformed to this world,” and it’s stuck with me ever since. It means to allow the world to pour you into its mold, to not resist as the world makes you appear just like it. And you know what? We aren’t resisting!! We are allowing!! So much so that things which seemed like Scriptural commands not long ago are now perceived as optional or even as downright wrong—and things which are called downright wrong in Scripture are now looked upon with tolerance. We claim we are following the moral high road, when in actuality we are sliding down a very slippery slope. In the name of “love” we knock down age-old Scriptural wisdom.

And I don’t like it.

The purpose of this blog has always been to remind us women that our emotions, and our imaginations, and our own view of how things should be are not to be trusted. That we must “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” rather than being “conformed to this world.” That Scripture is the only place to find real truth, and we must change our thinking to match it—not change it to match our thinking.

There are times when I feel like I have nothing important to say, but right now I feel like a lone voice calling out amidst a barrage of mushy, feelings-based, psychological drivel. “Turn back! Don’t go down that path!” Being a Christian is not easy; it is not mushy; it is not always about good feelings. It is a BATTLE. And we lose that battle when we place our own thinking, or the world’s priorities, above God’s thinking and priorities as given to us in His Word.

I used the Sheryl Crowe quote above more to be tongue-in-cheek than because I actually feel like I can say whatever I want whenever I want. (And because it made for a great transition to the next paragraph!) I have tried to be as diplomatic as possible on this blog, because I truly don’t want to offend anyone. But there are times when being gentle is actually doing a disservice, when working hard to not offend means that falsehood flourishes. Instead, on this blog I will be working hard to find the truth as found in Scripture and express it. Join me if you like. Thanks for being here today.

Image courtesy of njaj / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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God is God, and I Am Not.

Posted by Ann at 9:29 am Encouragement, Scripture

Jul 312012

[The title of the post today is a quote (although perhaps not original to him) from a former pastor, who was preaching on Genesis 1:1 ("In the beginning was God..."). Just a few weeks after making the above statement, he left church with a headache, went into a coma that afternoon, and died a few days later from a brain tumor. Talk about an object lesson...]

This morning I find myself searching in the Scriptures for verses about who God is, to get my mind off of who I am not.

We think about ourselves a lot, don’t we? I know I certainly do–it’s a huge temptation for me, and lately it seems to have been considerably worse than usual.

I do think I am dealing with middle-aged, peri-menopausal, hormonal issues which are affecting my energy and motivation levels. But I also think I am exacerbating the whole thing by dwelling on the feelings of being incapable and ineffective, by thinking about my own inadequacies–rather than turning my thoughts to God’s greatness.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! –Romans 11:33

O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all, the earth is full of Your possessions. –Psalm 104:24

I don’t have wisdom, but the Lord does.

They will say of Me, “Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.” –Isaiah 45:24

I don’t have strength, but the Lord does.

As for God, His way is blameless. –Psalm 18:30

I am full of sin, but God is perfectly good.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. –Psalm 33:6

It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. –Jeremiah 10:12

I have no power, but God has all power.

Why would I want to think about how stupid I am, when I can think about how great God is? Why would I want to try to do things with my own wisdom and strength and power, which are nil, when I can lean on His sufficiency in all those things? But I won’t be drawing from Him if I am consumed with thinking about myself.

So my project for today is to carry some of these verses with me, so that when I am feeling discouraged or weary, I can turn my thoughts away from myself onto the God who made me and loves me. It takes an act of the will to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5); it won’t just happen. My thoughts will wander aimlessly or wallow self-pityingly unless I make a concerted effort.

I like what Spurgeon has to say about our own inadequacy:

“Dear brothers and sisters, go home and never ask the Lord to make you strong in yourselves, never ask Him to make you anybody or anything, but be content to be nothing and nobody. Next ask that His power may have room in you, and that all those who come near you may see what God can do by nothings and nobodies.”

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” –2 Corinthians 12:9

And the blessed peace comes when we cease striving and know that He is God.

Do I get an “amen”?

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A Marriage Prayer

Posted by Ann at 8:39 am Encouragement

Jul 242012

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on here. I’m not sure what to say about that, except that my motivational problems are still around! Productivity in many areas is lacking. I am instead filling these summer days with fun and relaxation–and I have to admit, I am enjoying that very much!

Today is no exception; there will be a group of 9- to 14-year-old girls coming to our house for a sleepover. I need to rush out to Walmart this morning to get some food for the hungry horde, and then they will arrive shortly after lunch. The afternoon’s activities will include playing in the sprinkler and/or having a water balloon battle–I will be wiping up drips as they come inside for fortification and potty breaks. Surprisingly, I am looking forward to it–maybe just because it gives me an excuse to put off all the other stuff I know I should be doing…!

I heard today about another marriage amongst my friends that for all practical purposes has dissolved. Over the years I have witnessed several marriages of good friends fall apart, and it never fails to hurt. Not a selfish, me-centered hurt–I obviously am not the offended party–but I hurt FOR my friends. I hurt that they have had to experience such a wrenching thing. And I hurt for God, that His people are for whatever reason unable to accurately represent the relationship between Christ and the church.

And it also never fails to cause me to re-evaluate my own marriage, and to be even more strongly resolved not to let this happen to me. (I promptly wrote my husband a mushy email, for starters.) It wakes me up; it causes me to look at myself and how I am contributing to or harming my own marriage.

I feel VERY strongly about the marriage commitment. I get very frustrated with the American culture and its detrimental effect on the institution of marriage and on people’s expectations of what marriage should be. Even the Christian culture can be so way off base in this regard. Most Christian fiction novels would read just the same as a Harlequin romance, with “electricity” being the sole reason men and women get together, except for the references to God and going to church that get smattered in occasionally.

Why do marriages fail?

The answer is plain and simple: SIN.

It’s not always about infidelity, people, or porn, or any of the “big,” perhaps more understandable, reasons. But it IS always about selfishness, and pride, and hardness of heart–and it’s most often BOTH parties who are exhibiting these qualities to one degree or another.

And my job is not to let those qualities take residence in my heart.

O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me,
and all things else recede;
My heart be daily nearer Thee,
From sin be daily freed.

Make this poor self grow less and less,
Be Thou my life and aim;
Oh, make me daily, through Thy grace,
More worthy of Thy name.

—J.C. Lavater

Trust me, I know how easy it is to start down the wrong path. I am in no way unaware of the struggles of marriage and how wrong thought patterns can seem so right. We have to be on our knees, pleading before the throne, to keep our marriages pure from evil. We have to be in the Word, renewing our minds constantly, to give up our own agendas and philosophies and be filled only with God’s truth. And even then we can so easily deceive ourselves.

I don’t ever want to grow complacent. I want to always be aware of my own fragility in regards to walking the right path. ”Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it…”–ain’t nobody who knows that better than me!

Today as I am sopping up the lakes on my kitchen tile and putting towels around wet shoulders, I will be enjoying the grinning faces of the little girls. I envy their innocence, their complete lack of awareness as to how difficult relationships can be, their not needing to regret behaviors and incidents of the past.

And yet my heart can be as light as theirs, if I give it to my Lord to mold as He wishes into His likeness. Make this poor self grow less and less, Lord. Be Thou my life and aim. Be in my marriage, and through it, and surrounding it, and supporting it.

In Jesus’ name.

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We are Not Alone

Posted by Ann at 8:44 am Encouragement

Jul 162012

Yesterday was my anniversary, and it was so NOT a good day.

The Man was in a completely different part of the country, I’m still wrapped in this funk caused by peri-menopausal hormones, I was feeling so lost and forgotten–well, I won’t bore you with all the details, but I will tell you what I learned. I learned that I am not alone.

I don’t mean that I am not the only one suffering. I know that there are many, many people out there suffering way worse than me. I wouldn’t even classify yesterday as suffering–it wasn’t even remotely severe enough for that–but it was tough for ME. A bunch of things just came together to tempt me to feel overwhelmed and forlorn and just sad.

What I do mean is that I have friends. I am not alone, because there are people that God has placed on this planet who love me and want to help me. This is so nice to know.

My pastor’s wife willingly gave me an impromptu counseling session during the Sunday School hour and listened to me and let me cry and then prayed with me.

A good friend’s husband offered to take me to Vegas to blow off some steam. Of course it was just a joke, but it made me laugh.

Other friends invited me out to ice cream and then sang “Happy Anniversary” in four-part harmony. That was SO sweet.

Even though I could not be with my husband on our anniversary, and all the other things that were weighing me down were still there (plus a couple others that got added yesterday, like the fender bender I had in the parking lot at the ice cream place–aargh), the care and love that were showed to me yesterday were so healing to me, such a balm to a sore heart. When I am hurting, others ARE there.

And this is true of all of us.

There was a time in my life, when The Man was a seminary student, that I thought I could not share with others that I was hurting in any way. I thought I had to present the appearance of having it all together all the time, because I never wanted anyone to start to think that we would not be suited for the ministry. I wanted everyone to think we were completely stable and effective and spiritually strong all the time. Which was a lie, of course, and grounded in pride. I had to learn the hard way that transparency is a good thing.

When we are having difficulties, or just feeling down, it is OK to reach out for help. People ARE there, they WILL listen, they WILL love, they WON’T judge–we just have to let down our guard and let them see our need. One way God shows His love for us is through those around us. We shouldn’t shut that out or undervalue it.

Yesterday I was so grateful to have my friends rally ’round to cheer me up. But there are times when no one is available, or it’s the middle of the night and I don’t want to disturb anyone…and that’s of course when I can turn to my Best Friend. Our God is ALWAYS there. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will always listen. ”Cast your cares upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

We truly are never alone. If you are feeling lonely today, call a friend and tell them so. Let them minister to you. If that’s not possible, set aside some time to be in the Bible, reading about God’s faithfulness and care. Talk to Him about your hurt, and believe in His truths.

“What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear…”

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Web Wanderings — A Kick in the Pants

Posted by Ann at 9:52 am Web Wanderings

Jul 092012

My pants have been needing to be kicked for almost two weeks now.

For some reason, somewhat inexplicable to me, I have had NO motivation to live my life, be a wife or mother or homemaker, or even just get up out of bed in the morning. I just have NOT FELT like doing ANYTHING.

I could come up with hypotheses for this–like maybe it’s a hormonal time, or maybe I had been so strung up for the month of June (see Staying Strong, the series that I wrote in June) that now that the stress is over I am falling apart–but the truth still remains that I have had a poor attitude and have not tried extremely hard to overcome it. I have not felt like overcoming it, actually. I knew it was wrong but felt unable to do anything about it.

(Have you noticed how much the word “felt” is in the last two paragraphs? This is a clue, people.)

So yesterday, as I was wallowing in my lassitude, I spent some time reading various blogs; and God used several of them to help wake me up and give me that kick in the pants I needed.

1) Keepin’ It Real–Your Love is Better than Life – Anybody who quotes Elisabeth Elliot is a winner in my book, and she also goes on to quote one of my favorite psalms. The post is a reminder that our relationship with God is more important than any of our circumstances. And the comparison between what she lists as bad circumstances and my own circumstances, which are really just fine, jolted me into realizing how stupid I’ve been being.

2) I Take Joy–Will You Drink This Cup? — Sally Clarkson is well-known to all homeschoolers, and she is an older woman I look to (albeit anonymously!) as a Titus 2 woman in my life. In this post she reminds us to give thanks for all our circumstances, quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (which I ought to know about; I wrote a post about it! Isn’t it amazing how all we think we know can just go out the window sometimes?). The thing that grabbed me is that she honestly relates how she feels about stuff at times, and it was how I was feeling! And yet she encouraged me to make the choice to set the feelings aside and act on the truth. She also reminded me that my kids are watching me…and that was a big ouch! But a good one.

3) Tiny Twig Goes Out on a Limb–What If It’s Been Said? — This post packed a different punch than the others; it encouraged me to keep blogging (when I said I didn’t feel like doing ANYTHING, I meant blogging, too!) because someone out there may be encouraged by what I say. Which, since I had just experienced encouragement by reading others’ blogs, made sense to me. She specifically mentioned that someone may be needing a “kick in the rear!” Yes, that would be me! So here I am again today, doing my thing…!

So through prayer, and reading the Word (read a wonderful passage this morning that I think I want to write about…stay tuned) and encouragement from other blogging ladies, I feel like I might be crawling out of this hole I had gotten myself into. Our emotions can be so insidious, can’t they? This is why I am writing this blog–because I myself am particularly challenged by them; and I need the constant reminder to choose to think biblically and not wallow in my own machinations. And I’m assuming I’m not the only one!!

If you’d like to join me in this journey towards truthful thinking, subscribe in the box at the top right! And leave a comment–they are so encouraging to me!

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Thanksgiving Thursday–Thankful for the Word

Posted by Ann at 10:27 am Thanksgiving Thursday

Jul 052012

Welcome to Thanksgiving Thursday. What we normally think of as a federal holiday celebrated once a year can instead become a weekly exercise in giving praise to the Almighty God who created us and blesses us.

Sometimes we look everywhere for help but the place that can most give it to us.

Don’t search on Facebook for hope to keep going. Don’t check out the latest blog posts in your RSS reader to try to find a reason to be a productive person. Don’t call your favorite friend; don’t cry on your husband’s shoulder.

Go to the Word.

I know this seems simplistic. I know the mindset that wants to scream, “It’s not that easy! You don’t understand!”

I know the lassitude that wants to do anything and everything else, things that seem like easier fixes, rather than open the Bible.

I know the rationalization that says, “I had my quiet time this morning. I read several verses and even the commentary about them. I don’t need more Bible.”

I also know the rush of life that claims there is not enough time to sit still and be quiet with the Lord.

And so we continue on, feeling frustrated, harried, unmotivated, burnt out, going through the motions, trying to force joy.

Give up your wandering. Go to the Word. Really, truly, sincerely, with a whole heart, go to the Word; because the Word revives.

This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me (Psalm 119:50).

I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me (Psalm 119:93).

There is a difference between a rote quiet time and a time of refreshment in the Word. There is a difference between a friend’s well-meaning encouragement (as wonderful as that is, if it is biblically-based) and the encouraging truth of the Word of God. There is a difference between even the comfort of our husband’s shoulder and the comfort found between the pages of the Bible.

We must take the time to stop the hamster’s wheel and get off. We must find a way to be quiet and still and seeking. Then we will be able to say with the psalmist:

I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments (Psalm 119:7).

and

I shall rise and give thanks to You because of Your righteous ordinances (Psalm 119:62).

The Word is truly something worth giving thanks for!!

I am also enjoying finding things and moments to be thankful for each day. I am doing better at it than previously, and it does help my attitude on a day-to-day basis. Here is a selection from this week:

#171 Girl time with #5–a good movie and yummy treats

#172 God’s protection/comfort during a possible physical emergency

#179 Fireworks from the water–full moon rising behind them–so beautiful

Today on Thanksgiving Thursday, take the time to really be IN the Word. Fellowship with your Heavenly Friend; drink in His words of comfort and encouragement. And then give thanks!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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