How BIG is Your God?

My husband and I read the Bible, a devotional book, and pray together every morning. This passage from Traveling Light really made my heart soar.

You don’t need what Dorothy found. Remember her discovery in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD of OZ? She and her trio followed the yellow-brick road only to discover that the wizard was a wimp! Nothing but smoke and mirrors and tin-drum thunder. Is that the kind of god you need?

You don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god … a god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle. No, you need a God who can place 100 billion stars in our galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the universe. You need a God who can shape two fists of flesh into 75 to 100 billion nerve cells, each with as many as 10,000 connections to other nerve cells, place it in a skull, and call it a brain.

And you need a God who, while so mind-numbingly mighty, can come in the soft of night and touch you with the tenderness of an April snow.

You need a Yahweh.

And, according to David, you have one. He is your shepherd. ~Max Lucado, Traveling Light, p. 16-17

How BIG is your God today? How powerful is He? How does this transform your day? Your life?

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
2 Corinthians 4:7-9
My God is BIG, and today I expect Him to do BIG things!

How about you?

"Man, You Have a Lot of Books."

There is one comment that I get from 99.9% of all people who visit our house. "Man, you have a lot of books." It's a true statement, because I DO have a lot of books. I love books--old ones, new ones, classic, books, novels, historical research. And on any given day I'm "reading" a dozen books. This means that around the house there are a dozen books (at least) that have a bookmark in them. Some I just started. Others are nearly finished. These are books I pick up through the day and read. Some one page. Some fifty pages. (I'm sure many of you wish you could read just one page each day in your school textbooks!)

The cool thing is that I'm never without something wonderful to read. The hard thing is that I want to read them all, now, today.

In the morning, as I have quiet time with God, I have a stack of 20-30 devotional books to choose from. These include classics like, "My Utmost for His Highest" and workbook style books like, "Live a Praying Life" by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Sometimes I pick up the books on the top of the stack, but most days I feel "drawn" to a particular book. There are times when the book I feel lead to read isn't on the stack, yet I know I have it, and then the hunt begins.

Usually, it's pretty easy to find a book. My books are organized: fiction, non-fiction, research, childrens, teens, Gen X, parenting, marriage. But there ARE more books than space, so I have additional books tucked around the house--under beds, in baskets, in trunks. Yesterday for some reason I felt led to hunt out a book by John Sherrill called, My Friend, The Bible. I'd read about this older book somewhere and bought it years ago, yet it wasn't until yesterday that I really was drawn to read it. I searched through the non-fiction shelves, and the Biblical research shelves, but I couldn't find it. I looked on other shelves just in case it was misplaced. Finally, I found it in my old trunk, where I'd stashed it with others.

The book is an interesting story about a man's journey to being drawn to read, and fall in love with, the Bible. Now, John Sherril WAS a Christian and He loved God, yet to read about his journey to falling in love with the Bible is a beautiful thing.

As I'm reading it, I--of course--began thinking of my own journey toward the Bible. I grew up going to church, but except for memorizing Scripture to win prizes, I never spent much time in the Bible. After accepting Christ at seventeen-years-old, I remember opening up my Bible for the first time. I'm not sure how I ended up in 1 Peter, but there I was. And, in 1989, as I read 1 Peter 1:24-25, I felt my chest burn as if God was speaking to me:

For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its glory (honor) like [the] flower of grass. The grass winters and the flower drops off, but the Word of the Lord (divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever. And this Word is the good news which was preached to you.

That day when I read it, I KNEW it was truth, and it was confirmation that my accepting Christ and living for Him was the right decision. I wouldn't be around forever. I needed to consider my life and eternity. And I needed to put my faith on God's Word, which was around long before me and would remain long after I was gone.

Today, as I'm reading John Sherril's book, I'm again awed by the fact that God SPEAKS to us through His Word. As Sherril writes, "As I was grasping the huge fact of literalness, I was still only part way into the awesome reality of this Book. For the truth in the Bible was also contemporary. It had happened then; it was also happening now."

The Bible tells what happened, but when I read it something happens. God uses these Words to prick my heart, to speak to me, to point out direction, or correction, or inspiration within the pages.

Like Sherril. The Bible is my friend. No, more than that. The Bible is a tool my best friend, my Savior, uses to speak to me today. What an amazing thing, when you think about it. What an amazing God to develop this process.

May I ever continue to be faithful to read and listen and understand. And how about you? How do you feel about your Bible? How does your feelings toward it impact your life?

Make Christ Real ...

Time and meditation are necessary to allow the Holy Spirit to make Christ real in your life. If you could develop one disciple in your life I'd encourage you to take time every day to read God's Word, to sit and ponder it, to write down God's truth in a journal and keep track of how the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and what He has to say. It has completely changed my life. I mean COMPLETELY changed my life.

When I wake up in the morning usually my first thought is to think back over my dreams. I'm a dreamer and each night a story plays out in my mind. Most of them involve me caring for children—watching them or bringing them into my home. My “sleep job” is a nanny or a mom of about 112 kids.

My next thought is … I need to get my coffee, my Bible, my journal. It's my morning ritual. Before I'm concerned about a shower, or tending to my youngest, or before my to-do list starts spiraling through my mind, I consider spending time with God first.

It's a habit that started when I was a very young mom of two kids and living in a low-income apartment with my husband. The apartment was 600 sq ft. and we had one car that my husband used. I couldn't “go away” to meet with God. (Not that I could ever get away if I wanted to with two with small kids.) So instead, I set my alarm clock and got up early. Then I'd go into the living room to read my Bible, write in my journal and pray.

You must know that just setting the alarm was a risk in itself. My toddler and baby slept on the other side of a thin wall. If they heard the alarm then EVERYONE would be awake. Thankfully on most mornings I was able to turn off the alarm before everyone awoke, and after a few months something amazing happened … I started waking up on my own without the alarm. For this former night-owl, it was a miracle.

It was during that time I developed a love for God's Word. The more I read the more I wanted to read, and God's truth became ALIVE to me. I started writing down special verses, and I'd jot down prayer requests too. I'd also get on my knees and pray for my husband and my kids. I'd pray that we could have a house some day. I'd pray that God could use me—even though at the time I had no idea how He could. I was 20 years old and had two kids and a husband in college … still I prayed.

I'd also think about what God's Word was telling me. That was the “meditation” part. You see making time for God in my morning was only half of the equation. Thinking about how His Word impacted my heart and my life was the other part. Christ became real as I gave Him my mornings … and soon I was thinking about Him, His Word, and His truth all throughout my day.

How about you? Do you make time each day to spend with God? Do you read His Word—drink the Truth? Do you take time to think about how His Word applies to your life? Do you consider the changes you need to make? Time and meditation are necessary to allow the Holy Spirit to make Christ real in your life. And once you discover how real Jesus can be that 15 minutes, 30 minutes or hour of extra sleep each day will be the last concern on your mind. I guarantee it.

~~~

About Tricia: Tricia Goyer is the author of thirty books including Songbird Under a German Moon, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. www.triciagoyer.com

Do You Have a Spiritual Eating Disorder?

Sometimes we develop spiritual eating disorders. We binge and purge on Jesus or fast from Him altogether and our souls quickly become malnourished.

Matthew 5:6 says, “ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Do you hunger for Jesus? Are you thirsty for the touch of His hand on your life? Or have you developed a spiritual eating disorder? Let’s do a quick checkup.

Spiritual bulimia

Do you binge on Jesus? Do you get filled up at camp or weekend retreats or on Sunday morning and then purge so that you can live the life you want to live? In stead of getting a steady dose of Christ through His Word, do you cont on filling feasts of God every once in a while?

Read Matthew 13:5-6 and see if you are like the shallow soil. Without the constant nourishment of consistent time in the Word and fellowship with other believers, your heart will get sick.

Spiritual anorexia

Do you starve yourself of Jesus altogether? Do you go weeks and months without seeking Him in prayer, fellowshipping with other Christians, or digging into the Word? It is impossible for your spirit to stay healthy when it is cut off from the source of life and strength. Anorexics delude themselves by thinking they can avoid food and still stay healthy, but it doesn’t’ work that way.

In the same way, you cannot grow spiritually without the nutrients God offers.

In Colossians 1:9-11 Paul writes, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might.”

Growth and strength come from being filled by God. Don’t starve yourself of His teachings. Feast regularly. Get filled up. It is simply the only way to grow in Him.

Spiritual stress eating

Are you a crisis pray-er who runs to Jesus only when the going gets tough? Do you neglect Him when life is smooth but seek Him with urgency when the road gets rocky? He is certainly able to provide for us during times of trial. Nahum 1:7 promises, “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” But He calls us to seek Him at all times, not just when troubles hit our lives. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 teaches us to “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Did you catch it?

Always…continually…in all circumstances. We are to ingest a steady diet of Christ, rather than just running to Him when we are stressed and afraid.

Do a spiritual checkup. If your spiritual life has developed some disordered eating habitaq1s, pull up a chair and feast and the banquet table of God. Allow Him to fill you and nourish your heart.

This segment was taken from Erin's book, "Graffiti: Learning to See the Art in Ourselves." You can learn more about this book at www.graffitiministries.com.

Reading the entire Bible

Camy here. Recently, our youth pastor asked the youth group who had read the entire Bible.

No one raised their hand.

Why is it important to have read your entire Bible? Because the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament.

The SAME.

And if you want to know your God, you should know ALL of your God, not just the “New Testament” events that show your God.

So, I have challenged the high school kids to read their entire Bible by June 1st.

Basically, you flip to the last page of Revelations and see what the page number is. On my Bible, it’s page 1153.

Then you divide the page number by however many days it will take until June 1st, although I would pad it with some extra days. So, from now until May 1st (I’m giving myself an extra 30 days padding) is about 210 days.

1153 pages divided by 210 days is about 6 pages a day (I rounded up). That’s not too bad, right?

The trick is to just read. There will be parts you won’t understand—don’t sweat it. Just read. If God wants you to understand something, He’ll make it known to you by His Holy Spirit.

And as you read, the Holy Spirit will convict you on what God wants you to get out of your reading.

Try it out with your Bible and take the challenge with me. You’ll be glad you did!

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Her novel Single Sashimi is out now, and she runs the Story Sensei critique service. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for monthly giveways!

A Quick Tip To Understanding the Bible

As the author of a recent Bible study series, I receive emails from girls all the time who tell me that these books have gotten them reading the Bible on a regular basis. Occasionally, they write to ask me how to stay in the Bible once they've completed the Bible studies. How do I read the Bible without a guide that can help me work through some of the archaic language? Their questions aren't always worded the same, but they usually boil down to the same point. Reading the Bible, and actually understanding it, can be tough.

If we aren't careful we can actually take passages of Scripture completely out of context and start applying them in ways they were never intended to be used. Doing this not only butchers the Word of God, but it can also wreaks havoc on our own spiritual lives when God doesn't do something we believed He was going to do--even though He never intended for us to believe He would.

So, here's an easy trick to remember when you read the Bible. Aim to get a great TAN.

T: Then. Take a close look at the passage of Scripture you are reading. Who wrote it and who was he writing to? (There should be a note at the beginning of each book of the Bible with this information). What was the original purpose of that book of the Bible? (For example, 1 & 2 Timothy were letters Paul wrote to a discouraged young pastor.) Learning about the original audience and intention of the passage you are reading will help you interpret it correctly and it will give you understanding and insights you may have overlooked otherwise.

A: Always. Now examine the passage in light of what is always true about God. If you are reading in the Old Testament about God delivering the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, you will see that God proves Himself faithful as a provider. Even though the Israelites left the wealth of Egypt and went for 40+ years wearing the same shoes as they wandered through the wilderness, the soles of those shoes didn't wear out!

N: Now. Once you've gained some insight into the historical context, and the timeless truths about who God is, then you are ready to look for ways you can personally apply this passage. When you look for personal application, being aware of the historical context will prevent you from deviating from the original meaning of the text, and knowing biblical truth about who God is will keep you from applying the passage in a way that opposes God's character or nature. The first two steps in the TAN principle will help you apply the third principle correctly. Going back to the analogy about the Israelites in Egypt, by seeing God's faithfulness to them you can be assured that God will be faithful to provide for you--even if your dad just lost his job. You might not be able to buy all of the latest and greatest gadgets like you once did (it's not a promise of wealth), but you will be able to reast assured that God won't let you go hungry.

Hopefully, that gives you a fresh perspective to your regular Bible reading. Now, go get a great TAN!