A Time of Refreshing / Renewing The Call

“Sometimes absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, it makes the heart grow apathy.”  Beth Ipock

Actually, when I had this thought, I wasn’t thinking about a person, I was thinking about a calling.

I lead the choir at my local church.  Our rehearsals are on Sunday evenings (sometimes starting at 4pm) before the evening service.  Back in the late fall,  we missed two weeks of choir rehearsal.  There are definitely times when it is good to take a break in order to refresh.

 

On the other hand, during that absence started thinking there were things I would rather be doing.  I mean, there are so many things I would love to do. Maybe leading a church choir isn’t something I am called to any more.

Here’s just a partial list of things I love to do or would love to do (in no particular order):

•  I love spending time with my husband
•  I love traveling
•  I love my job
•  I love serving my Lord through music and Bible teaching
•  I love leading women’s events
•  I love spending time with grandkids
•  I love to get together with friends
•  I love scrapbooking and making hand-made cards
•  I love writing
•  I love reading
•  I love Bible study and prayer

(As Father Tim says in Jan Karon’s Mitford Series, “Cavanaugh, what don’t you love?”  I  think that’s a different blog.)

So when I’m away from my typical service, it seems I am more likely to question if what I am doing is what I should be doing.   It’s easier to think about things I don’t have time to do and wish I could do them.

But back with choir on the Sunday morning following vacation, I realized that I love God, I love worship, I love music and I love leading/teaching others.  So leading the choir at First Baptist Church in Seymour, Missouri is a perfect thing for me.  Our choir is made up of 18 people that love the Lord and are faithful in preparing to lead in worship each week.

Father, I thank you for the opportunities you give me for refreshing.  Thank you for renewing the joy of my call to your service.  Thank you for giving me love for you and your people.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

After the Christmas tree is up (typically Thanksgiving weekend), I love sitting there in the early morning with my coffee, just enough light to read by and some type of Christmas devotion or study and my Bible.

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus by Nancy Guthrie is one of my favorites.  Nancy put together a variety of Christmas sermons and writings in this compilation.  What I read this morning (on page 65) was by St. Augustine under the heading of John 1:1, 2, 14a.

John 1:14 NLT  So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

What is proclaimed / taught in this passage is so familiar to those of us who have been walking with the Lord for a long time.  And yet for its familiarity, it is such a hard saying to really comprehend.  I mean, it is truly unfathomable to the human mind, isn’t it?  How can we possibly understand fully that God came to be fully man, while still being fully God.

So is there anything to be gained from spending time meditating on this passage?  Am I lazy if I don’t because I know it cannot be understood this side of heaven?

Lord, keep my mind on you long enough to build my faith by studying such fantastic concepts.  As St. Augustine says,

Who can comprehend the abiding Word?. . . He ‘was’ before his own flesh; he created his own mother.  He chose her in whom he should be conceived, he created her of whom he should be created.

In the very next devotion, J. I. Packer expounds on the same concept.  He says, “Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of incarnation.”  Then he refers us to 2 Corinthians 8:9, saying that our response should not just be that of marvel, but of the wonder of grace.

Father, I know that when I meet you in glory, I will be able to comprehend these things.  Praise your name!  And yet, here on earth, guide me to take the time to meditate on them and not just skip over them as I take them on faith.  I want to be in awe.  There is more you can teach me if I take the time. 

 

A Passion for The Word

I’ve just finished preparations for this week’s session of the New Christians’  Sunday School class and I’m always pumped by the process.  There is NOTHING more exciting than being in the Word to find what the Lord wants to say to me and through me.

I think people who know me well know that I do not typically commit myself to things I am not passionate about.  I learned the art of saying, “No,” many years ago after a stress related illness.  I try to make sure I am doing what the Lord wants me to do, because I know he will give me what I need to do it.  I love what Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator (1706), writes in his thoughts on 1 Kings 19.

Note God knows what he designs us for, though we do not, what service, what trials, and will take care for us when we, for want of foresight, cannot for ourselves, that we be furnished for them with grace sufficient. He that appoints what the voyage shall be will victual the ship accordingly.  http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/1-kings/19.html

This spring we had several new adult Christians in our congregation and I am passionate about discipling new believers so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.  That is a big failure in many churches.  I offered to teach a New Christians’ class, not really knowing how I would have time to prepare.  But I definitely felt called to do it.  The pastor typically teaches this, when we have it, but he took me up on my offer and proposed giving me his material to help.  There are a lot of discipleship materials on the market, but most of them are not comprehensive on the topics we want to cover.

About the same time that I was offering to teach the class, I began to feel that even though I watch very little television, the shows that I was watching regularly were not shows that honored the Lord or would lead me to honor the Lord.  So I have quit watching NCIS and The Goodwife.  There’s two hours a week right there for additional study and preparation.  The more I’m in the Word, the more I want to be in it.  I don’t miss those shows at all.

I have challenged by Facebook friends to spend more time in the Bible than they spend on Facebook every day.  Will you take the challenge to give up something with no lasting value to be in God’s Word to YOU? 

By the way – when you take the challenge, get ready for challenges from Satan.  He will challenge your new commitment.  He will want you to fail.  Don’t give up. 

 Ephesians 6:13 NIV   Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  

 1 John 5:3-4 NIV  This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee Anyone?

Are you a coffee drinker?  And when I ask that I realize that there are all different levels of coffee drinkers.

For instance, my husband drinks coffee.  At McDonald’s he gets three creams and ten sugars in a small.  And he might drink the whole cup.  On Saturday morning at the coffee shop when we are visiting with each other and our neighbors, he might drink more than a cup.  But at home, he might not drink any or he’ll only drink a few sips in the morning.

On the other hand, I have coffee during my quiet time.  I drink coffee on the way to work and I drink coffee until about 11 am.  Now I am a sipper and not a gulper so it doesn’t add up to a whole lot of coffee, but I definitely drink more than my sweetie.  And if I drink it at night, it is usually a special situation where dessert is involved.

And then there are those who drink coffee from morning until night.  Caffeine before bed is no issue.  They like it with meals (I like it with sweets or breakfast) and as a refreshment.  Are you a coffee drinker?

Are you a Bible reader?  Sure you are!  You read along with the Bible Study teacher and the pastor on Sunday morning.  But do you read the Word daily?  How much?  If you have a quiet time, you may read a devotion that lists a scripture reference.  Do you go to that reference and read?  Do you meditate on what you’ve read or are you already moving on?

Or are you committed to daily time in the Word with a plan to get fed?  You work through in-depth Bible studies by book, word or topic.  You memorize scripture to hide His Word in your heart.

If you struggle knowing God’s will for your life or how to respond/behave in certain situations, God wants to teach you and His primary way of teaching is through His Word.  And if you know Christ personally, He has given you the Holy Spirit to interpret it for you.

“But I don’t have time. . .”  If that’s what you’re thinking, I challenge you to get before the Lord and ask Him what you’re involved in that you can give up.  How many hours per week do you spend on fitness for your body?  Isn’t your spiritual health more important?  Are your children involved in multiple activities each week?  Chances are one is plenty.  Pray for God’s guidance on this.  Your entire family may be too busy.  How many church activities are you leading?  Which ones have you been doing without being called by the Lord to do them?  How much time do you spend on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking sites?

If you’re looking for a place to start, get into Psalm 119 to learn all about the benefits of learning and following God’s Word.  When God’s people get interested in God’s word, we will have revival!