It's fall! That means it's almost Thanksgiving, which means it's practically Christmas. I'm not trying to jump the gun, but I do want to get this out there so you all have plenty of time to think and plan for this Jesus-celebrating Christmas activity if it's up your alley! Seven years ago when my husband and I got married, one of the things we had to talk through was how we were going to handle holidays. Family, food, gifts, and all that fun stuff. As a couple, we decided not to do Christmas gifts for each other or for our family and friends. Gasp! What? No presents on Christmas? Nope, no presents. Here was our thinking: 1. Our family consists of grown adults who really don't need (or want) anything. 2. We don't like giving out of a sense of obligation. 3. Christmas gifts tend to end up in give-away piles. 4. It's expensive. 5. It's stressful. 6. Christmas is supposed to be about Jesus, not presents. While I was completely on board with the decision, I really kind of missed the gift aspect of Christmas. Not the giving and getting of stuff - I didn't really care so much about that, but I missed wrapping things up in pretty paper and ribbons (it's an art project to me!) and I missed the hustle and bustle of the mall with all the decorations and the hunt for the perfect gifts. But I also really wanted to come up with a Christmas activity that we could work into our family tradition that actually celebrates the birth of Jesus . That's what it's all about, right? I present to you, "Christmas Story by Gifts"! We've been doing this in our family for a few years now, and everyone seems to enjoy it. We even had a non-Christian friend join us for Christmas one year, and he participated with us and really liked it as well. It was a fun and non-threatening way for him to learn about the true Christmas Story! Christmas Story by Gifts gets everyone focused on the real meaning of Christmas (the birth of Jesus Christ) and promotes selflessness and sharing rather than greed and "me, me, me" that so frequently overtakes people at Christmas time. Here's how it works: (Examples and Photos to follow) 1. The Christmas story from the Bible is divided up into 8 sections of Scripture (could be more or less, depending on your family/group size). We have 7 people in our family, but I leave it at 8 sections in case we have anyone join us unexpectedly. 2. Come up with a gift that symbolically represents each section of Scripture. The gifts shouldn't be for any particular person, but rather all the gifts are to be shared and enjoyed by the entire group. Also, they don't need to be anything big or expensive. Things like candy, games, or small toys work well. It's just supposed to be symbolic of the Bible story and get people thinking about it. For example, in the verses that talk about the wise men bringing Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, a good (and easy!) gift option would be chocolate gold coins. Look for things that can easily be shared by a group and would likely be enjoyed by most members. (It's OK if not every person likes every gift.) If your family or group does not all live together, find things that can be split up by households or individuals to take home. 3. Wrap each gift and add a gift tag with the Scripture reference and the number of the order it in which it should be opened (going in order of the Bible story). 4. On Christmas morning (or on Christmas Eve, depending on your family's preference), each member of the group draws a number out of a hat that corresponds with one of the gifts. 5. The person who drew #1 finds the gift with the tag marked #1. Before opening it, they read aloud the Bible passage that is written on the gift tag. They can either find this in the Bible and read from there, or you can pre-print the passages on paper to hand out to each member. 6. After reading his or her assigned Bible passage, Person #1 opens the gift. This gift is not "for" them, but is meant to be shared and enjoyed by all. 7. Person #2 then finds gift #2, reads the Scripture, and opens the gift. 8. Each remaining person will go in order of their number until all gifts have been opened. 9. After all gifts have been opened, you can divide the various gifts into goodie bags for each person if it makes sense to do so. So that's the overview. Every year I start fresh and head to the store with Bible verses in hand and hunt out gifts that seem to fit the various parts of the Christmas story, so it's always a little different from year to year. Now here are some photos and examples from what I put together last year. Some of the gifts require more explanation than others, but hopefully you'll get the idea! (I've included links for the Bible verses instead of typing them all out.) #1 Luke 1: 26-35 (Angel announces to Mary that she will bear a child.) This passage talks about how Jesus is the descendant of King David, so therefore He is of the seed of David. The gift? David brand sunflower seeds! #2 Matthew 1:18-25 (Angel tells Joseph that Mary will bear a child.) In this passage, the angel tells Joseph how Jesus will save the people from their sins. I clustered a few small things I found together in one package to show how our sin is dark like coal, but Jesus is our "Life Saver" and makes us clean and shiny like diamonds. The box with the diamond on it in the photo below is a little $5 toy I found where you can chisel away at a real rock and see if there is a real diamond inside. Supposedly some of the boxes contained real diamonds, but sadly I didn't pick out a winner on that one! It was fun watching four grown men try and chisel the rock away with a mini chisel to find out though! #3 Luke 2:1-7 (Joseph and Mary have baby Jesus in Bethlehem.) Ok, I'll admit it. This one was a bit of a fail last year. My family didn't really get it, but here was my thinking behind it. Mary and Joseph had baby Jesus in a stable where the animals hang out, and they laid him in a manger. This reminded me of the song, "Away in a Manger" and the lyrics, "The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes..." I saw beef jerky on the store shelf, and thought, "cattle." Maybe Mary and Joseph needed a snack for their trip back home from Bethlehem, since they were just there for the census, so they made beef jerky? Ya, I know, it's a stretch! I'll do better this year. #4 Luke 2:8-14 (Angel appears to the shepherds and tells them about the birth of Jesus.) This one is fairly self explanatory. Chocolate angel candies! #5 Luke 2:15-20 (Shepherds visit Jesus in the manger.) #6 Matthew 2:1-6 (Wise men search for Jesus.) The wise men knew to search for Jesus because they were knowledgeable about the prophecies about His birth made in the Old Testament. For this gift, I found this little pamphlet that charts out fulfilled prophecies throughout the Bible. Since our family lives in three different households, I bought three of them, so we could each take one home. #7 Matthew 2:7-10 (Wise men follow the star to Jesus.) This little star-shaped Jesus tin contained individually wrapped peppermint candies. #8 Matthew 2:11-12 (Wise men bring Jesus gifts.) One of the gifts they brought Him was gold, so chocolate gold coins are an easy choice for this one! Here are all the gifts wrapped and tagged with their corresponding Scripture printouts: A close-up of the tag: Those were the gifts I chose for our family last year! I stuck mostly to food items to keep the cost down and to make things easily shareable, but in the past I did a couple larger things like puzzles and games that everyone could play together. It's really up to you, and you can be totally creative. One year I even "wrapped up" a song that reminded me of one of the Bible passages and we popped the CD into the player and listened to the song as a family. That one didn't cost a dime, since I already had the CD.
I hope this gives you some inspiration to celebrate Jesus this Christmas! Christmas Story by Gifts is something that you could do in addition to regular gift giving if that suits your family, or it could take its place entirely. Consider doing this in place of stocking stuffers and celebrate the story of Jesus, rather than the story of Santa Claus! To organize this, you could have one person put together the entire project, or you could assign each person in your group one of the Scripture sections to shop for and wrap. It could be a fun activity for a Bible study group to do at Christmastime that really brings everyone's focus back to the reason we celebrate. Have fun with this, and may your Christmas season be full of Jesus this year!
0 Comments
Most of us want to go to Heaven. I have to think that even people who don’t believe there is a Heaven and Hell must at times wonder in the back of their minds if they might be wrong and hope they’ll make the cut.
Fortunately, God doesn’t want us to have to wonder and worry about whether we’ll make it. He lays it out pretty clearly for us in the Bible! You can know your eternal destiny. Below is a list of truths you can examine within your heart in light of God’s Word to be confident that you belong to Him and will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. 1. Understand that you don't deserve to go to Heaven. You can't BE good enough or DO good enough. God demands perfection, and no one meets that requirement. You can try really hard, but ultimately, you will fall short. God doesn’t grade on a curve, nor does He weigh your good deeds against your bad deeds. "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Perfection. Perfect actions. Perfect thoughts. Perfect attitudes. Perfect motives. God also says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 3:23 and 6:23) All of humanity has failed to meet God’s requirements to go to Heaven and deserves death. This all sounds really depressing, and it is. But this understanding is crucial to having a right relationship with God. God wants you to come to Him with an attitude of humility; He is the Creator and you are His creation. He is perfect; you are not. “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:10) 2. Understand that God loves you and wants a relationship with you. Even though you have fallen short of the perfection He demands, God still loves you anyway and wants you to go to Heaven. He loves you not because of anything good you’ve done, but because you are His creation. He came to earth as a man to pay the penalty of death He requires for our sin. He did that for you. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) 3. Understand that Jesus is enough and did enough. God’s love for you was demonstrated through His Son Jesus, who took the sins of the world, including yours, upon Himself and died the death that you deserved. Going to heaven is not a result of who you are and what you can do, but rather who Jesus is and what Jesus did. As Jesus died, He announced, “It is finished.” He paid the debt that you and I owed, and made it possible to have a restored relationship with God. Jesus rose from the grave after three days, proving His power over death and the ability to grant new life to those to put their faith in Him. 5. Understand that Jesus is the only Way. All roads do not lead to the same place. All religions do not lead to God. Regular church attendance does not even guarantee that you will go to Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) If there were any other way, why would Jesus have laid down His life? God wants a personal relationship with each of us through Jesus Christ. 5. Understand that Salvation from Hell is a free gift. While there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, God does want to give it to us! He offers it to us freely. We simply accept His gift of forgiveness, accept His grace, accept His mercy. That’s it. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) “For by grace you have been saved by faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 If you acknowledge your sins and inadequacy to God, believe that Jesus died in your place and rose again, and believe His promise for eternal life, you will go to Heaven. 5. Understand that when you belong to Jesus, He'll never let you go. You are secure with Him. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28) Paul also wrote in Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (8:38-39) Since there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation, there is also nothing you can do to lose your salvation. It’s not dependant on what you do, good or bad. Once you have eternal life, it’s just that: eternal life. Forever. Anything short of this diminishes what Jesus did for us on the cross. What is Eternal Life? Contrary to what some people may think, the point of Heaven is not to satisfy all our wants and pleasures. Neither is Heaven about sitting on a cloud strumming a harp for all eternity. Yes, there is a heaven, and yes, it’s a great place, and yes, it’s forever. But all that isn’t the point. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3) Eternal life is about knowing God in a personal way. Heaven is about being with God. It’s about going home to our Savior Jesus and spending eternity with Him in a place free from the pains and consequences of evil on this earth. It’s about being with the One we love, and living among others who share a love of Jesus and our Heavenly Father. That being said, if you don’t love Jesus and and don’t care about being with Him, God won’t force you into His home and into a place where you don’t want to be. You’re invited, but you have to come on God’s terms. Jesus tells us, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) What if I’m Not Sure I Believe These Things? If you are concerned about going to heaven, God is likely already at work in your heart. We don’t have to understand everything about Him, and it’s normal to have questions and doubts. Below are some steps you can take to increase your understanding of God and how to go to Heaven.
Resources I love my God. He is my Creator, my Father, and my Redeemer. He is my strength when I am weak. He is my constant in a world of change. He has a way of lifting my spirits when I’m down, and casting light on a dark situation. He gives me a purpose and value as His child. He is gentle, yet firm. Forgiving, yet just. Brilliantly creative, astoundingly incomprehensible. He knows the perfect time to be angry, but graciously draws those in who have regrettably done Him wrong. He doesn’t put up with disorder, and makes clear His ways. What is the point of this life but to know Him? Not to better ourselves, but to be made complete by His touch. He has breathed life into our lungs, fashioned the shape of our flesh, and continues to mold and shape our spirit and our character into the likeness of His Image. Friends, it saddens me that so many think of religion as a means to be good, or a set of morals and beliefs. Perhaps that is religion, but it’s not Jesus. Knowing your Creator in an intimate way is life-giving. He knows your deepest hurts, your ugliest scars, your guiltiest moments. And He loves you. He loves you in spite of what He knows of you, and loves you enough to walk with you through a journey of change and growth, setbacks and failures, joys and triumphs. Clichés and formulas and rules to follow are not what Jesus intended for us. He is real, and though many of us claim to believe in Him, I think sometimes we forget that He is real. I do. To talk the talk and say the right words is easy. To know deep in your soul the amazing Truth and the Life of Christ is overwhelmingly powerful and you can’t help but radiate His light from your being. The world needs to see that, but it’s scary to be passionate about Someone whom so many can’t see and don’t understand. Does anyone know they need forgiveness anymore? Has anyone done that of which they are truly ashamed? Jesus forgives those who ask Him. And He covers you with so much love and grace that you don’t want to do whatever bad thing you did ever again. You don’t want to disappoint Him. It’s not easy to admit my failures. Sometimes I don’t even recognize them until my loving God points them out to me. Sometimes He uses the words of my husband to show me my selfishness. Sometimes He uses a pastor’s sermon, or words on a page, or a comment by a coworker. And sometimes it’s a gentle whisper to my heart to show me where I went wrong. It’s out of love that He does this. He wants to heal me and make me better, but first I need to know my weaknesses, so that I can ask for His forgiveness and strength. Many say that they don’t need to be religious to be a good person. In a sense that’s true. Many non-religious people put me to shame in the areas of generosity and kindness and other good things. But the truth is that none of us, religious or non-religious, are good enough by God’s standards. Only God is truly one hundred percent good. It doesn’t do me any good to compare myself to others, because God demands perfection, and of that we all fall terribly short. Comparing myself to Jesus is a surefire way to a humble heart. The point of “God” and “religion” isn’t to be a good person; it’s to be a forgiven person. And no list of rules and commandments can offer forgiveness—only a Person can. Only Jesus can. So if you don’t know Jesus, no religion in the world can save you. It’s just not how it works. I love Jesus. I love that He cares about the details of my life. I love that He’s always there for me. I love that He forgave me, and I love that because of Him I don’t need to fear death, or what comes after death, because I know with certainty I will be eternally with my God who created me and loves me. Jesus died for my sins, and rose again conquering death. That’s a God worth loving! The Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:14-18 sum up my heart on this: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. I found this little article buried in my email that I wrote a year ago, and I was encouraged to look back at this moment of my life and see how God was working in me. I hope it might encourage some of you as well! We live in a culture that values being strong. The ladies are told to be “strong women.” Strong men are more respected than weak men. We aim to have the attitude of warriors and conquerors of life’s challenges. Men and women alike spend hours in the gym strengthening and toning their physical bodies. There is nothing wrong with being strong, but there is a greater strength that comes only in weakness. Sometimes our own “strength” is a mere cover for weakness and insecurity that we know truly lies beneath the surface. All the positive thinking in the world can't change what's really there. God said “My power is made perfect in weakness,” and this has been a theme in my life the last couple of weeks as God is teaching me to rely on His strength. I’ve been struggling with feelings of inadequacy for life’s demands: Demands of my marriage. Demands of my job. Demands of trying to keep with the housework. Demands of planning ahead for the future. The more effort I put in, and the more I aim to please, the more I seem to fall short. When I feel like I’m giving it all I’ve got, and still not meeting the expectations of myself and others, it’s very discouraging. What more can I do? I’ve heard similar stories from women who have struggled to keep up, and I know my story is not unique. These other woman talk about how they were trying to do things in their own strength, when they should be relying on God’s strength. Intellectually I understand that, but spiritually and practically, I haven’t known how to grab hold of that truth and make it a reality in my life. I think it’s my time to embrace what God is trying to teach me in this area. At a time when I need it most, everywhere I turn, I’m being sprinkled with Scripture and truth about how God helps us in our weakness. Friends and family have been posting Bible verses on Facebook. The music at church included lyrics about our weakness and God’s strength. Radio sermons have been about it. God wants me to hear this right now. I’m learning that the more I come to terms with my own limitations and weaknesses, the more I can boast in God’s strength when He comes through for me. Having an attitude of humility rather than a souped up “Strong woman-I-can-conquer-the-world" mindset is both more honest and freeing to the soul. "And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 2 Corinthians 12:9 I’ll be honest. The New Testament is an easier read than the Old Testament for most people. It gets to the point, and it’s easier to see how it applies to your life. It gives us succinct stories, answers to our questions, and great snippets of verses to quote regularly. Bada bing, bada boom. The Old Testament can get a little long in the tooth. Sure there are some exciting stories of the earth’s beginnings, some cool miracles, some comforting psalms, and wise proverbs, but much of it comes down to this king, and that battle, and genealogy after genealogy, and all the “thou shall”s and “thou shalt not”s. How is this relevant to my life? Why do I care who wins this battle, or how closely that king followed God? Why do I care how many sons that guy had? And why are there so many weird laws back then? These are all questions I’ve struggled with as I've read through the Old Testament, and many times when I’ve started, I don’t get much past Genesis or Exodus before I lose interest and flip back to the New Testament. My New Year's resolution back in January this year was to read through the entire Bible. This is something I’ve done a time or two before, but this time around I've found that God has opened my eyes to a few things, and I'm developing a greater appreciation for the role the Old Testament plays in my life and in my views of God. Hopefully some of these things will inspire you to read through yourself. 1. God’s Not Done Yet – Be PatientAs you read through some of the stories in the Old Testament, you’ll find that the world back then isn’t so unlike our world today. Sometimes the world just seems hopeless, people around us have lost all interest in the God of the Bible, and no one cares about His ways. Everything seems to be going downhill fast. I have found myself thinking on more than one occasion during my reading, “Man, that sounds just like today!” Nothing has really changed. But you know what? God is still here. People are still following Him, even after all those seemingly hopeless times throughout history. After periods of severe disobedience by God’s people in the Old Testament, a leader would rise up who turns things around, and the people would recommit themselves to following God. Sometimes this takes generations though. You have to be patient and keep reading to see the entirety of what God is doing. I’m realizing how small a blip in history my life is. I can only see the here and now, but God has been constant from the beginning of time. He’s seen generations after generations, good times and bad times, abundance and famine. None of those people living through some terrible times in the Bible knew what the end of their story would be. We have the advantage of seeing their “future” (now history), but at the time, they weren’t any better off than us. They didn’t know; they were just living in the moment. This inspires my confidence in God, knowing that He’s not done yet and that He survives the worst times of our world’s history. I just have to keep “reading” and wait for His next move! In your own life, you’ve probably been through some slumps that seem like they will never end. Marriage or money problems, sickness, depression, maybe even war depending on when and where you live. You might even be in one of those slumps right now. But you know what? God’s not done yet. He’s come through time and time again for people throughout history, and those people too probably thought everything was all over. Sometimes people even die before they see the end of the story, but I promise, God’s not done yet. So how does that help you if you might die before you see better times? That brings me to my next point about what the Old Testament teaches us. 2. Life Isn’t About You We don’t like to hear that, and this isn’t what the world teaches. The world tells us that we’re special, we deserve everything we want, it’s OK to do whatever we desire, and it’s OK to believe anything that sounds good to you. That’s all a big lie. As big a deal as someone like Moses or David or Solomon or any of the famous Old Testament characters were, they were still just a name in a long line of genealogies. They all did some good, if only a little, just like you. They all sinned, just like you. They all died, just like you will. And the story went on after them, just like it will go on after you’re long forgotten. Depressing? Only if you believe life is about you. So what’s it all about then? How do you fit in? The One constant from the beginning of time into eternity is the triune God Himself. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It’s all about Him, and the Old Testament shows that time and time again. God created, God led his people, God performed miracles that continue to be told to this day, and God sent prophets to tell about the coming Messiah, His Son, who would appear in the New Testament to save mankind from the eternal consequences of their own sin. All other people come and go, but God is forever. People may play a small role in God’s plan, but it’s not about any of them. Your perspective changes when you recognize that everything centers on Jesus, God Almighty. Instead of looking at everything wrong with your own life, or spinning your wheels trying to make something great of yourself, you seek to understand what God is doing in the grand scheme of things. You seek to know Him and to make Him known. When the focus is off yourself and your immediate circumstances, you find greater purpose in life. Your short time here on earth is a thread that God has chosen to weave into His story, even if you don’t recognize how. But he put you here, so that means you’re valued by Him! The Bible is full of many great leaders and many great players in God’s story, but all those seemingly insignificant names in the genealogies are part of God story too, and so are you. Each one of those names in the long boring lists of Chronicles had a life. They had jobs to go to, and kids to chase after, and sickness in their families, and arguments with their neighbors. Zoom in close up on any one of those names and you will realize how small each person is in relation to God’s big plan. It’s like looking up at a starry night sky and thinking about how far away and how vast the universe is, and how big the God is who created it all. It’s really quite humbling. 3. It’s One Big StoryIf you open up the Old Testament and read a few verses or a chapter, chances are you won’t feel particularly nourished or enlightened or see a ready application for your life. (Kind of like how most of your own days don’t seem particularly special.) The Old Testament isn’t like that. It’s about a bigger plan and a bigger story, and you don’t really start to see how everything fits together until you read through its entirety. It takes time! But just like life, over its course you can start to see how it all ties together, and you begin to see the bigger story unfolding. You will learn about God’s steadfast character as He interacts with people throughout time. You will learn about people in general, and how often you can relate to situations or to how someone else responds to life’s challenges. You’ll see God come through on His promises. You’ll just get to know Him. Not just about Him, but you’ll get to know Him. A Challenge and Some TipsI challenge you to read through the entire Old Testament. When you’re deep in the trenches of a boring section, keep going. Instead of trying to find little applications from each verse and chapter, keep your eyes open to the bigger picture. Skim over the genealogies if you need to, and just know that they’re there and that God had a purpose for them. Watch the story of God’s people unfold as He creates them, leads them, saves them, gives them what they want, saves them again from what they thought they wanted, and so on. The more you read, the more you’ll start to see reflections of your own life and your own time in history. You’ll see God more. You’ll see His full character and His thoughts and His ways of operating in people’s lives. What I’m about to write might sound like heresy to some, but I think I might be on to something. I’m going to suggest that it’s OK if you, a Christian, don’t have your devotional time every day. What?!!! While I write from the perspective of a woman, what I have to say may apply to a lot of men as well. A Background Story When I was single, I didn’t have a whole lot going on besides my day job. I was involved with some church activities, and visited my parents regularly, but other than that, it was just God and me. It was a time of my life when I would sometimes spend as much as two hours at a time reading and studying my Bible, and I loved it. In my pride, I thought this was a reasonable expectation for everyone, and I looked down a little on those who didn’t spend as much time being “spiritual”. And then came along my first boyfriend. Oh, the excitement! I finally knew what it felt like to be “twitter-pated” with love, and he was all I could think about. I tried to continue my lengthy Bible study sessions, but just couldn’t focus anymore. I remember sitting on my couch with Bible in hand, saying to God, “Sorry God! I’m sure this will pass, but I just can’t concentrate right now!” My boyfriend soon became my fiancé, whom six months after engagement became my husband. And so began a new chapter of life. Now I really struggled to find time for God. I knew it was important, but my former alone time, was now “us” time, and as newlyweds, my husband and I were inseparable. We didn’t really know how to do things apart anymore; it didn’t feel right. Eventually we moved past that phase, but then in addition to my full time job, my role as a wife was filled with things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, budgets, and all sorts of things that didn’t consume my time as a single lady. I was responsible for the care of another person, and I quickly found out that all my Bible study time hadn’t prepared me for that. I didn’t know how to cook at first, and I’d never paid much attention to nutrition or health concerns that I would need to know to be a good helper to my husband. The Church as a whole had not prepared me to be a good wife (even though I thought I’d be a great wife, with all the bible study I’d done!) I had studied all sorts of things about purity, and the role of a wife as far as submitting to and respecting my husband. But it was all spiritual and head knowledge, without any practical applications to actually be a helper to my husband, or how to show respect. (I quickly found out those things are harder than they sound!) Basically, I had to work overtime to compensate for my lack of knowledge and skill in these areas. What Does It Mean to Be A Good and Godly Christian? But back to my main point. For the first several years of my marriage, I didn’t feel like I was being a good Christian in the sense that I wasn’t reading my Bible every day, and wasn’t sitting down to pray like I should. My world was consumed with busyness and daily activity. What does the Bible say about all this? The “Proverbs 31 woman” is revered by Christian women everywhere as the ideal role model of what a good wife and woman should be like. Did you know that not once in that chapter does it mention her sitting down to have a “quiet time,” prayer, bible study, or going to church? Nope. She was busy doing things to care for and look out for her family! That was her role. It does mention that she “fears the LORD.” I have no doubt that she probably did pray and at least listen to godly teaching in the synagogues, but that wasn’t the focus of her time. Her attitude was one that had reverence for God, and out of that reverence for her Creator, she served her family. Everything this “ideal” woman did came from a place of communion with God, and it was likely an ongoing thing for her. As she worked, maybe she talked to God. It doesn’t say that, but if your heart isn’t in that place, the fruit of your labor probably won’t result in praise and blessing from your husband and children, like this Proverbs 31 woman received. Our Traditions vs. the Desire of God I was frequently (and sometimes still am) torn between how to use my time: I want to read and study my Bible, but I also know I have pressing responsibilities around the house, or things my husband has asked me to do. In addition to the Proverbs 31 passage, consider the following: Jesus to the Pharisees: “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” (Mark 7:9-13) This is like me saying to my husband, “Sorry, I can’t cook dinner for you – I’m giving my time to God and have to go read my Bible.” Or, “Sorry I didn’t iron your work shirt for today; I was too busy praying.” God doesn’t look kindly on that. He has called me as a wife to do good to my husband. To honor him and take care of him. Our Christian “tradition” is to make sure we spend at least a half hour doing our “devotions” every day, but sometimes, that just isn’t possible if we are going to follow His command of loving our neighbor or our family. Sometimes what pleases God is putting down my Bible and living it instead. So Should We Give Up Reading the Bible If We’re Too Busy? All that being said, we do need spiritual nourishment. I’m not writing this to give anyone an excuse to fill their time with busy activities and never spend some alone time with God. If you can’t find time for God because you’re “busy” on Facebook or watching TV or over-committed to extra-curricular activities, perhaps you need to rethink your schedule. You know what I mean. It took me years of marriage to finally find a sweet spot in my day where I was consistently alone with minimal responsibilities when I could spend 15-30 minutes reading my Bible. My husband and I already get up very early, so getting up earlier to find that time isn’t really an option for me. While he’s getting ready for work, I pack up food for him to take along to the office. We sit for a few minutes and have coffee together, and then after he leaves for work, I get myself ready and head off. When we get home from work, the routine is to cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, prepare anything for the next day, and have our “settle down” time together, which usually involves watching an hour or so of TV. While the TV part isn’t a priority for me, it is a priority for my husband to have that wind down time with me before we go to bed, so the together time is important for our marriage. But there is a short slot of time in the morning after he leaves for work before I have to start getting ready that I had been using to skim through Facebook. It didn’t seem like it was an unreasonable thing to do, as it wasn’t much time, and in a stupid way made me feel more productive to fill my time with Facebook and “squeeze” it in! One day I decided I changed my priorities. I thought, “Instead of reading Facebook, what if I read my Bible instead?” Since it was only about 15 minutes or so that I had, it didn’t really seem like enough time, but God is good. I was surprised at how much I could actually read in that amount of time, and even if it wasn’t a lot of words getting read on some days, what I did read was something that I could cling to for the day. You do need God’s Word, so you should absolutely strive to find time for it. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be a source of guilt for you, if you miss a day, a week, or whatever because you are legitimately busy serving your family. We need God’s Word:
I look back on my years as a single lady and realize that my extensive time in God’s Word acted as “fertilizer” for the fruit that I know bear as a married woman. I learned a lot in that time that that has stuck with me, and I’m glad that I used my time in that way during that chapter of my life. I may never have another time like that, and it built a solid foundation for my faith that has seen me through many hard seasons. But now in my current chapter of life, I do what I can. I rest in God’s grace and seek to serve Him and spend time with Him in new ways that might not involve sitting down for 30+ minutes alone with my Bible. I no longer feel guilty if I miss my daily devotional time because I am fulfilling the role God has place me in a wife. This song has been echoing in my mind and heart for the last several days and is so rich with God's goodness and truth. As its words flow across the melody in my mind, I'm reminded of so much truth from God's word. It's always been important to me to make sure what I'm singing is Biblically sound- there is a lot of bad theology in song lyrics, so it's good to test them against Scripture. This one passes the test! If you like, you can first listen to the song here by Selah: After you listen to or read through all the lyrics, see below for the corresponding truths straight from God's Word and a few of my own comments on what these words mean. It's so easy to sing songs in church without really thinking about the words, but when I do consider the lyrics, this one fills my heart with praise to God for his goodness and mercy. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart No tongue can bid me thence depart When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me To look on Him and pardon me Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness The great unchangeable I AM The King of glory and of grace One with Himself, I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God With Christ my Savior and my God
Now let's break it down and see where in the Bible these lyrics come from. I've selected some appropriate verses for each section, but it's not an exhaustive list. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" (1 John 2:1) "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5) "But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16) "The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 8:23-25) "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:8) Guys, this stuff is so rich and so awesome. I could include so many more Bible verses that speak to this part of the song, but I've got to limit myself! Seriously, read the book of Hebrews if you want more context on all this. When we belong to Jesus, our plea before God is strong and perfect, because it's Jesus making that plea for us! He's our Advocate and our Intercessor and our Mediator. He knows our weakness and our sin - He lived among us, but He lived perfectly. He is the Son of God, God Almighty, and He is willing to extend grace to us when we come to Him. God is love, and Jesus is God. My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:16a). This is what God said to Zion when they thought He had forsaken and forgotten them. I also can't help but think that this is symbolic of us being crucified with Christ: our names are graven on his hands, and his hands were pierced through on the cross, as He died for our sins. I couldn't find any direct Scripture references to our name being written on God's heart, but I think it carries the same idea that God knows those whom are His, and has a permanent relationship with them. He won't forget us! (If anyone knows of a Bible verse where that second phrase comes from, please feel free to comment below!) I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30) As long as Jesus is on the throne of God (which is forever), we don't have to worry about being separated from Him. He has us in His hand and He's promised that He has us forever! When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:9-10) "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10) Satan is an accuser and a deceiver. He's a tempter. He'll get under your skin and remind you that you haven't kept God's law perfectly and that you're guilty. He'll try to discourage you. He might lie and tell you that God won't forgive you. He'll make you feel real bad and cause all kinds of doubts. Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9) When we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can't be fooled by Satan's lies. Jesus has promised us forgiveness. We only need to acknowledge our sin and look to Jesus for forgiveness and new life. Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) Jesus lived without sin and died on our behalf so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin. We no longer have to carry the burden and weight of sin! We no longer have to worry about eternity when we belong to Christ. For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 3:23) "Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him." (Isaiah 30:18) "Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith.'" (Galatians 3:11) "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7) We talk a lot about how God is love, but God is also Just. This means that he wants justice for wrongdoing, and He can't just look the other way when we sin. But His love and justice come together in the person of Jesus Christ. He accepts the death of Jesus in our place to pay the price for our sin. Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) "and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:15) "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption," (1 Corinthians 1:30) The great unchangeable I AM "Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you." Now they may say to me, "What is His name?" What shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and he said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) "Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” "(John 8:58) When Moses asked God what His name was, God gave him the name "I AM". Basically that means that he is ever present and eternal. Jesus later reiterated this phrase "I am" making a claim to be God himself - there was no mistaking his claim, as those who were listening picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy when they heard this. The King of glory and of grace "Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah." (Psalm 24:10) "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) One with Himself, I cannot die "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Ephesians 2:4-5) "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:4-10) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24) When we put our trust in what Jesus did on the cross, something radical happens. A spiritual transformation happens, and we receive the promise of eternal life as a new creation. My soul is purchased by His blood "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18-19) To "redeem" means to "buy back." Jesus bought us back with his own blood (the price to pay for sin is death), so that we belong to Him. My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God "to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1) "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," (Ephesians 2:4-6) "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3) I've never been good at admitting I'm wrong. I'm much better at talking my way around (or out) of things, making excuses, and casting blame. Sometimes even lying, if I really get backed into a corner. I hate that I do that. I'm always caught off guard when someone freely admits when they've screwed up. It's actually like a breath of fresh air, and instead of thinking less of them, I find myself having a greater respect and admiration for them! But I really struggle to remember that when it's my turn to admit I'm wrong. I've been reading through the Old Testament, and found myself in the 9th chapter of Ezra today. I caught that breath of fresh air as Ezra prayed to God admitting and confessing the sins of the people of Israel. What sin? God had instructed His people not to intermarry with the people of the surrounding lands, not because they were lesser people (after all, God created them all!), but because these people didn't follow God. When you hang around people who are up to no good, it's really easy to fall into their bad behavior. God wanted the best for them. (After Jesus died and rose again for the sins of the world, both Jews and the rest of us alike were invited into God's family, and now the only "intermarriage" that's a problem is when those who love and follow Jesus marry people who don't.) Anyway, that's the context of this passage, and here are the words of Ezra: But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the LORD my God; and I said, "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day. But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. We all have stuff that we need to admit to; the Bible calls that "confession." When we humbly admit when we're wrong and come clean, God promises to forgive us. That's awesome. "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9) |
AuthorFull time office worker, full time wife, and full time lover of Jesus. I'm kind of a Bible nerd, and I have a passion for finding ways to introduce Jesus in a practical way to everyday people doing everyday things. Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|