Joshua 1:8 — "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therin: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
SPIRITUAL HEALTH: MEDITATING ON GOD'S WORD
Studying scripture is fundamental to our spiritual health. The Bible is God's Word and His instructions to us. The Holy Spirit illuminates scripture for us. In scripture, we are taught about God's character and reminded of God's faithfulness in the past. We are instructed on how to live holy lives of love, and we are convicted of our shortcomings.
I have personally struggled with consistent Bible study. My life seems to get too busy, and I honestly sometimes just blow it off because I'm running around "doing things for God." And during the seasons when I am lazy and neglect time in God's Word, I realize how simple it is to justify sin in my life. I lose focus on truth.
During the times when we faithfully meditate on God's Word, it's amazing how scripture overflows from our minds and is applied constantly throughout our day.
REFLECT
We're always meditating on something, whether it is scripture, a blog, or a conversation we're mulling over. The key is to shift our focus to scripture and truth as we go about our day. Try keeping God's Word on your mind for a day and watch how your perspective changes.
What are three scriptures you can meditate on today, or this week? What do you expect God to do when you turn your focus to Him during your day?
Friday, April 18, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Beating Burnout: Finding Hope and Health (Day 1 of 3)
Isaiah 30:15 — "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not."
REST: A QUIET TRUST
The nation of Judah was rebelling against God and not listening to His warning. He promised them salvation if they returned and rested in Him, assuring them that His strength was perfect for them. Yet they refused and instead trusted neighboring Egypt for their help.
Ruth Haley Barton in Leading in Rhythm says, "As disciplines of rest, solitude, and silence rescue us from the brink of dangerous levels of exhaustion, we are restored to a state of quiet alertness, ready to receive guidance from God about what we are to do in the world."
REFLECT
The Egyptians gave Judah horses to help them in battle — something they could see and touch. Often, returning to and resting in God requires us to have faith without tangible reminders of His presence.
Countless times in scripture we are told that it is only through Him that we can live abundantly and in His peace, whether we can see His gifts to us or not.
What things in your life are difficult to surrender to "resting in God?" Like Judah taking the Egyptians' horses, what are a few things that you find security in? What can you surrender and trust God and believe that He will accomplish even as you rest?
REST: A QUIET TRUST
The nation of Judah was rebelling against God and not listening to His warning. He promised them salvation if they returned and rested in Him, assuring them that His strength was perfect for them. Yet they refused and instead trusted neighboring Egypt for their help.
Ruth Haley Barton in Leading in Rhythm says, "As disciplines of rest, solitude, and silence rescue us from the brink of dangerous levels of exhaustion, we are restored to a state of quiet alertness, ready to receive guidance from God about what we are to do in the world."
REFLECT
The Egyptians gave Judah horses to help them in battle — something they could see and touch. Often, returning to and resting in God requires us to have faith without tangible reminders of His presence.
Countless times in scripture we are told that it is only through Him that we can live abundantly and in His peace, whether we can see His gifts to us or not.
What things in your life are difficult to surrender to "resting in God?" Like Judah taking the Egyptians' horses, what are a few things that you find security in? What can you surrender and trust God and believe that He will accomplish even as you rest?
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Why Do I Need Jesus? (Day 4 of 4)
Galatians 5:16 — "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
Did you know that Jesus paid for all your sins over 2,000 years ago? This means you're completely forgiven!
God doesn't think about the bad things you've done, because Jesus took the whole punishment for your sin on the cross! Live for God today and stop living in your yesterday.
Are you a bad person just because you've done bad things? No! Once you've received Jesus as your Savior, the only thing that matters is what God thinks about you!
God doesn't even see your sin or mistakes any more. Do you know what He thinks about you? Dig into the Bible to find out what God thinks about you!
What He says is more important than what everyone else says about you! You can talk to God and tell Him thank You for forgetting all the bad things you've done in the past.
You can ask Him to help you live for Him with all that you are.
Did you know that Jesus paid for all your sins over 2,000 years ago? This means you're completely forgiven!
God doesn't think about the bad things you've done, because Jesus took the whole punishment for your sin on the cross! Live for God today and stop living in your yesterday.
Are you a bad person just because you've done bad things? No! Once you've received Jesus as your Savior, the only thing that matters is what God thinks about you!
God doesn't even see your sin or mistakes any more. Do you know what He thinks about you? Dig into the Bible to find out what God thinks about you!
What He says is more important than what everyone else says about you! You can talk to God and tell Him thank You for forgetting all the bad things you've done in the past.
You can ask Him to help you live for Him with all that you are.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Why Do I Need Jesus? (Day 3 of 4)
Luke 19:10 — "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.
It's hard to imagine why anyone would want to take a punishment for something they didn't do. But what if that punishment was death? Only Jesus could do that for us because He's the only one who never sinned even once.
When we behave badly and disobey God, we might wonder how God could ever love us. But God didn't send Jesus to die in our place because we deserved it. No. It's because of His great big love for us.
He knew that Jesus would come to earth as a baby all the way back before Adam and Eve ever sinned. He knew you before you were born, too! He knew everything you were ever going to do and He still chose to send His Son Jesus to die for you. He even came to save people who may seem too bad for Jesus to help.
You can talk to God and ask Him for His forgiveness and ask Him to help you forgive yourself too.
Why Do I Need Jesus? (Day 2 of 4)
Romans 3:23 — "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
You aren't good enough to be friends with God because you follow rules. You're good enough because you believe in and trust the only One who is good: Jesus!
God gave his people rules to show them the way life works best. He wanted them to learn that they could never be good enough without His help.
God's help is a gift called grace. Grace is a gift that can never be earned. We can't earn God's grace by working hard to please Him. He gives it freely. We aren't strong enough to please Him by ourselves. God's grace gives us the power to live free from sin.
It's because we put our trust in Jesus. Not because we're good at following rules. You can talk to God and thank Him for making you good enough with His gift of grace.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Why Do I Need Jesus? (Day 1 of 4)
Isaiah 53:6 — "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
The minute Eve and Adam disobeyed God, they were guilty of sin. God said there is serious consequence for sin. The price required to pay for sin, is death. Adam and Eve's bodies didn't die right away, but their friendship with God was broken. God loved them so much, He wanted them to have a second chance. He had a plan for someone to take the punishment and fix their broken friendship.
Each of us have sinned, too. We have all chosen our way over God's way. If you're reading this, God is giving you a second chance. You can talk to Him and say thank You.
Monday, February 17, 2014
It is no wonder the devil was a snake
My wife, Carmen, ran outside one
morning last summer to grab our mail. When she
got back to the front door, she hollered about seeing a snake.
I ran outside to see it but it slithered away before I could spot it. At the time, we thought it had slithered away for good so we went back inside.
We went out that afternoon for a little while to run a few errands. Once we got back home, we had almost forgotten all about seeing the animal species I loathe the most.
But later, Carmen peeked out of our front door window only to spot the black creature again — this time lying next to our sidewalk.
We assume it was a black snake but it held its head up much like a cobra. For my own sanity, I will maintain it was just a black snake.
Anyhow, since it had slithered away earlier, we thought that if we tried to scare it, it might run away again.
So Carmen’s first attempt was throwing her car ice scraper that happened to be lying on the porch. The snake didn’t flinch.
Next, I got one of my work shoes and started slamming it on the porch, hoping that the loud noise would frighten it. That did not faze it.
Finally, Carmen got a bowl full of water to splash at it. Still nothing. And considering how hot it was that day, the snake probably appreciated the cool douse.
Carmen’s mom, Linda, was actually on her way over to our house to visit. So Carmen called her to warn her about the snake.
When Linda arrived, it was almost as if the snake knew trouble was coming so it slithered back across the sidewalk to a hole underneath our porch. We got a good look at it too, and it was huge for a black snake.
Since we had run out of weapons to attack the snake, Linda made a trip back to her house to get a shovel.
In the meantime, I was beginning to stress out about it. A lot of things don’t bother me too much, but if a reptile like that is loose in my house, it really disturbs me.
But Linda had returned with the shovel in hand. The snake was still tucked away in its Hall household hideout.
After about 30 minutes, though, the black demon resurfaced.
Linda grabbed her shovel, and the snake made a run for it.
It slithered across the yard and our driveway. Just as it was close to making its escape, it met its demise in the form of a shovel stabbing by my mother-in-law.
So even though the snake survived our heroic water and ice scraper attacks, it was no match for Linda — or “The Female Crocodile Hunter,” which is what my mother called her after hearing about this story.
A couple of days later, we found the hole where the snake was likely staying, loaded it up with snake repellent and sealed it off.
After all of this was said and done, however, I couldn’t help but think about the references in the Bible about the devil being a snake.
2 Corinthians 11:3 refers to the devil appearing as a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
And then in Revelation 12:9, the serpent gets cast out of the world.
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Just like the way the black snake under our house caused me stress and worry and confusion, when we let Satan into our lives, we can become stressful and worrisome.
Only after the snake was cast out of its hole and filled with the repellent was I once again at peace.
Similarly, we can only be at real peace when we cast Satan out of our lives and fill our souls up with the spirit of the Lord.
Philippians 4:7 says “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The devil will try to slither his way into our lives when he finds any holes in our soul. But just like “The Female Crocodile Hunter” used her shovel to cast the black snake from our yard, we can use our Bibles and prayer to keep that snake called the devil out of our lives.
I ran outside to see it but it slithered away before I could spot it. At the time, we thought it had slithered away for good so we went back inside.
We went out that afternoon for a little while to run a few errands. Once we got back home, we had almost forgotten all about seeing the animal species I loathe the most.
But later, Carmen peeked out of our front door window only to spot the black creature again — this time lying next to our sidewalk.
We assume it was a black snake but it held its head up much like a cobra. For my own sanity, I will maintain it was just a black snake.
Anyhow, since it had slithered away earlier, we thought that if we tried to scare it, it might run away again.
So Carmen’s first attempt was throwing her car ice scraper that happened to be lying on the porch. The snake didn’t flinch.
Next, I got one of my work shoes and started slamming it on the porch, hoping that the loud noise would frighten it. That did not faze it.
Finally, Carmen got a bowl full of water to splash at it. Still nothing. And considering how hot it was that day, the snake probably appreciated the cool douse.
Carmen’s mom, Linda, was actually on her way over to our house to visit. So Carmen called her to warn her about the snake.
When Linda arrived, it was almost as if the snake knew trouble was coming so it slithered back across the sidewalk to a hole underneath our porch. We got a good look at it too, and it was huge for a black snake.
Since we had run out of weapons to attack the snake, Linda made a trip back to her house to get a shovel.
In the meantime, I was beginning to stress out about it. A lot of things don’t bother me too much, but if a reptile like that is loose in my house, it really disturbs me.
But Linda had returned with the shovel in hand. The snake was still tucked away in its Hall household hideout.
After about 30 minutes, though, the black demon resurfaced.
Linda grabbed her shovel, and the snake made a run for it.
It slithered across the yard and our driveway. Just as it was close to making its escape, it met its demise in the form of a shovel stabbing by my mother-in-law.
So even though the snake survived our heroic water and ice scraper attacks, it was no match for Linda — or “The Female Crocodile Hunter,” which is what my mother called her after hearing about this story.
A couple of days later, we found the hole where the snake was likely staying, loaded it up with snake repellent and sealed it off.
After all of this was said and done, however, I couldn’t help but think about the references in the Bible about the devil being a snake.
2 Corinthians 11:3 refers to the devil appearing as a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
And then in Revelation 12:9, the serpent gets cast out of the world.
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Just like the way the black snake under our house caused me stress and worry and confusion, when we let Satan into our lives, we can become stressful and worrisome.
Only after the snake was cast out of its hole and filled with the repellent was I once again at peace.
Similarly, we can only be at real peace when we cast Satan out of our lives and fill our souls up with the spirit of the Lord.
Philippians 4:7 says “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The devil will try to slither his way into our lives when he finds any holes in our soul. But just like “The Female Crocodile Hunter” used her shovel to cast the black snake from our yard, we can use our Bibles and prayer to keep that snake called the devil out of our lives.
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