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The Word

Feb4
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double‑edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 NIV84).”

In the past, I’ve always struggled to have consistent times in God’s Word. I’m not a morning person, and my days always got away from me. Then along came this little thing called an iPhone, and an app called the YouVersion Bible.

The YouVersion app has many different devotionals and Bible reading plans to choose from. Two years ago, I read through the whole Bible in a year. Last year, I read through the whole Bible chronologically. This year, I chose a devotional reading plan instead.

I have a clock dock by my bed where I keep my iPhone charging over night. In the mornings it wakes me up with a random song from my “God Songs” playlist. I set that alarm to go off a half hour earlier than I need to get up and get the kids going. After one song plays, I grab my phone, open the YouVersion app and read the devotional for the day.

After two years, this is now an ingrained habit. I love using my iPhone because I don’t have to turn on the light. The praise song focuses my heart and the devotional is short and sweet and gets me thinking about living right. And it has me writing on a regular basis: I chronicle my thoughts from the devotional and then post them here.

After two years of reading through the Bible in two different ways, I feel I have a clearer understanding of this rich, vibrant Book that shows me God’s heart. After this year, I might do that again with some other plan just to get another perspective.

If you’ve never read through the Bible completely, I highly recommend it. You might be surprised what you’ll find.

Are You Ready?

Feb3

In Luke 21, Jesus talks about the end of the world and His return. He warns His disciples not to get caught up in the things of this world or that day will catch them unaware. Like a flash of lightening; like a thief in the night; like a bridegroom returning from a journey, ready to claim His bride. Be ready. Be ready. Don’t be caught unaware. He is coming. Be ready. It’s exciting, isn’t it?

Stapled Apples

Jan29

I was in a small group of moms a short time ago, studying together about parenting. Between us six women we had 22 kids ranging from college age to infant. One of the books we read together was Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp. There was an analogy in there that I will never forget.

Tripp talks about children behaving out of the heart. He gives an analogy about an apple tree in your yard. Every year it blooms and grows apples, but just before they are ready to be picked, the apples fall to the ground and rot. In order to fix the problem of not being able to enjoy delicious apples, you go to the store, buy a couple of bushels of apples and an industrial stapler, cut all the old apples off the tree and staple on the pretty red ones you just bought at the store. What a great idea, right?

Wrong. As Tripp said, the problem is more than a fruit problem; there is something fundamentally wrong with the tree. You have exchanged good fruit for bad fruit, but it won’t last, because the tree itself can’t produce good fruit.

One of my mantras has been: “You can’t legislate morality.” The Pharisees tried to do that. More laws didn’t save them. Only Jesus coming and giving His life to break the hold sin had on them changed them–but only if they let Him.

David and I don’t give our money to political causes: we give our money and our time and our very lives to helping change hearts. James 4:1 says wars and quarrels happen because we want what we want. Our hearts are dark. But Jesus is the Light. We don’t want to just staple apples on the tree: we want to be grafted in to the perfect root that will bring the most beautiful, delicious fruit. Change from the inside out.

Taming the Tongue

Jan28

A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. (James 3:3, 4 MSG)

I can’t remember the statistic exactly, but it takes something like 20 positive comments to erase the effect of 1 negative one. I think the ratio is even higher than that actually. My husband has often mentioned in our 20 years of marriage that I still don’t believe it when he tells me I’m pretty. That’s because I never heard it when I was growing up. And did, in fact, hear joking comments to the contrary.

I was single for more years than I’ve been married, so maybe that’s why the numbers haven’t caught up yet. I tell my kids that they aren’t allowed to say things like “look at you–you’re so fat!” (My kids are all slim.) Even the joking and the “Just kidding” afterwards doesn’t negate the negative affect of the words.

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Such a great and wise instruction. May it be so for all of us today.

One of those days

Jan26

This post failed to upload several days ago, so it’s actually from last week Monday, I believe.

Cough, cough, cough. That’s all Morgan and I have been doing today. She stayed home from school with a fever. I went in to teach my 2nd graders until Grandma had to leave to teach piano lessons.
Since then, we’ve been coughing, coughing, coughing, working on school work, grading papers, coughing, coughing, coughing. Not much fun. Nobody wants to work when they’re not feeling their best. Especially a 9-year-old. And especially not her mother.