Category: Bible Verse

Bible Verse

A Christian Mantra

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We’ve been studying the book of 1 Peter on Sunday mornings. A small book full of so many wonderful truths and lessons. As our pastor read from chapter 2, I heard what I’ll call a mantra that each Christian should proclaim daily.

No it’s not – I’m kind, I’m smart, I’m important. As the words washed over me, I felt such peace and strength.

“But you are a CHOSEN race, a ROYAL priesthood, a HOLY nation, a people for his OWN possession, that you may PROCLAIM the excellencies of him who called YOU out of darkness into his marvelous light” – emphasis mine.

1 Peter 2:9

As a believer, I can claim and proclaim these truths about me and other believers. I can be confident as I go about my day that I was chosen, he called me, and he gave me mercy (v. 10). I imagine if I reminded myself this when I am in the valley’s of life I would rejoice in all things knowing he is with me and I am walking with him.

When others find out I’m a believer, the watch me closer. They are waiting for me to trip up. And while I am still a sinner, and I will indeed trip, I can proclaim his name, ask for his help, and he will bring me into the light.

I will suffer as a Christian. But I want to live a life that is “well lived” so I can have a profound example on non believers (who Peter calls Gentiles in v 12). As his chosen people I need to live in such a way that my God will be honored among all those I meet.

So I will repeat this mantra often to help remind me of who I am in him. This will help me to turn quickly from temptations and instead towards Christ in all things. It feels like a slow process to become more and more like him, but with each choice, studying the Bible, and spending time with him, I get a little closer and my light shines brighter.

Bible Verse

Walk Away

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I have to come back to the topic from the last post as I had one more thought as I went over it that day. It’s about this one verse.

9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

John 8:9

I noticed that as they went away, John notes that it started with the older ones. It wan’t something I noticed before and I was struck by it.

Of course the older ones would walk away first. They had wisdom from their lives to know quicker to let it go. What they had wanted to do was not worth them standing there any longer in debating or holding on to the anger they had. While they originally were swept up in the crowd, the moment, their righteousness, they realized quicker that in the in grand scheme of things, what this woman had done wasn’t worth the battle.

I’m sure part of it was also that they understood quicker Jesus’ words about let the first of you with no sin throw your stone. They had lived a life of trying to follow the laws. They knew how many times they had slipped off the path. They knew how many times they might have been the one dragged to this courtyard to be stoned.

If you’re older, like me, you get that. Maybe you’re opinionated and do have trouble giving up your stand (like me at times). But the closer I walk with God, the easier it is for me to walk away. To lay down that stone and go home to cook dinner. To thank God for his forgiveness of my past and for sending his son to die for us.

When I was younger though, I would have been standing there longer clutching my stone. I would not have been the first person to throw, but I would have held out for a bit. I probably wouldn’t have even dropped my stone because I am that person that could hold onto anger and hurt for some time. Heck, it’s still something I struggle with but not nearly as long.

How quickly would you walk away? Would have always been quick no matter young or old? Do you still struggle to walk away? For me there are certain situations that are harder, but I can hear that still quiet voice inside me telling me to walk away. I’m getting quicker. I keep praying that He keeps helping me be like those older ones and walk away.

Bible Verse · Devotion

Holding your Stone

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Now that’s a weird title, isn’t it?

Let me explain (obviously you knew I would)…

I’m reading a book right now that has some good stuff in it and the author talked about a Bible verse in John that I’ll drop next.

Here’s the thing – I LOVED his point, but when I went to the Bible, it doesn’t say what he said it says (is that even a proper English sentence?). I was a bit disappointed, but it also got me thinking. Bible verse and then I’ll explain.

 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

John 8:3-11

So the Pharisees bring a woman who had sinned to Jesus and asked if they can stone her as they have the right according to the law. Jesus being, you know the Son of God, gives that “mic drop” answer. “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” All the people that were ready to throw stones slowly walk away.

The author states this “all the Pharisees drop their stones” and I was struck by his statement. He is talking about anger and our right to hold on to it (he is making the point in the whole book that we don’t have the right to hold on). In this parable (story? I don’t like using “story” with the Bible… me issue), they feel they are carrying out God’s justice. They had anger for the right reason – she sinned, the law says to stone her, end of story.

But here’s the thing. The verses don’t say they dropped their stones. They did walk away. But we don’t know if they dropped them.

However, I’m still struck by this thought. If they walked away holding on to their stones (which, let’s get real, is more likely seeing as they hated Jesus and were trying to trick him), then they still had the anger. BUT if they dropped them, think of how much lighter their load was.

And that is what I was caught thinking about all day. What stone am I holding on to? How many stones am I holding on to? What a relief it would be to let go and let God. I want to hold on to my anger, my “Holy righteousness”, my vengeance. But when I let go of it, when I drop it to the ground and hear that thud… because you know it’s not a little stone, it’s a big heavy one filled with so much emotion… I can walk easier. I have more room for God to come in and help me move forward. I can put my trust in him that he will take care of it for I can not trust my own judgment.

So let go of your stone. Drop it to the ground. Place it at the throne. Ask God to help you loosen the grip you have of it. Do whatever it takes, and then ask God to give you wisdom and to direct your path. Trust he will fight your battles.

Bible Verse · Devotion

Trials

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Many times throughout the Bible God lets the believer know they will face trials. It’s hard to think that when we choose to follow Christ that our life will not just flow easily forward.

James 1:2-3 says this:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

We can say that trials are certain but we must know they present us with an opportunity to test our faith. As our faith is tested we then can become more steadfastness – or firm and unwavering. James goes on to say in verse four that as we become more unwavering we can be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

1 Peter 1:6 tells us to REJOICE in our various trials. It will only be for a “little while” but these trials are purposeful proving our faith and making all our impurities melt away. Peter refers to this process as being more precious than gold which only becomes the purist when put through the fire. Now that little while might be a few hours, a few days, or all our days, but even if it is a trial that will stay with us all our days, we can rest assured that God is using it to refine us.

As I reflect on the trials I’ve had in my life, it has been hard at times to keep my focus on Christ. I want to wallow in sorrow and ask him to remove the trouble from my life. I want to forget it happened, to stop crying about what is lost, or to just have same easy times come my way.

But… but… I know in my heart of hearts that those trials I’ve been through and those that will be with my all my days, they draw me to him. The last year has been the hardest trial I have yet to face, and hear I am. In his word as often as I can get. Calling on him as I cry once more. Turning to him quicker than I did before when I am slipping off the narrow path.

I am being refined. I am more quickly rejoicing as I face a trial. I am not perfect and complete yet, but compared to yesterday, last year, years ago, I am coming closer. So I lean into God’s word and I ponder this:

… let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

I pray I run this race with endurance, continue to look to Jesus, and know with great confidence that I can rejoice in my trials as it brings me closer to him.

Bible Verse · The book of Job

Blessed be the Lord

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Have you ever read a book and it has such a slow start you think of just stopping? The book of Job is not that. It jumps right into the “deep end” with exactly what happened.

We get a quick background on this man… he was blameless, upright, fears God and turns from evil. He was wealthy, had a wife, and many children. All is going well, extremely well, for Job. And then we get a little peek into a meeting with the “sons of God” (angels), God, and Satan.

Satan believes that he has the power to turn a faithful person away from God and wants to prove it. How does God respond? He gives him permission and tells him about his faithful servant! He first gives Satan permission to do anything but harm Job’s body {1:12} and then, when that doesn’t work, God gives him permission to do something to Job as long as he spares his life {2:6}

Shocking to our human hearts who only want to think of God as loving and protective. This suffering Job experiences is not a punishment for anything Job has done. There is no unforgiven sin in his life. And yet God gives his permission (because God is in control of even what Satan can do) and also defines what Satan’s perimeters are.

In verse 1:21 Job says “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” and then in 2:10, after being inflected with sores that make him unrecognizable to his friends, he still says “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”

Having been through some trials in my life, I did not always first say blessed be the Lord. I eventually turn there, but Job seems to be quickly at that point.

What Christopher Ash says in his book “Trusting God in the Darkness” for this section is worth noting and remembering as we read forward and, more importantly as we walk with God.

First we must know that Job is blameless.

Second we need to know that Satan has real influence in our lives. That brings me to my knees to ask God to help me reject that influence.

Third we need to remember that God is absolutely supreme. Satan only has power that God gives him and even when I’m in a trial, I must have confidence that God is right there and he will prevail.

Finally, God can give sobering permissions to Satan. I am left to wonder if I could stand this test that God allowed in Job’s life? While we walk through chapter after chapter of Job crying out to God, the story ends with Job acknowledging the greatness and power of God.

Bible Verse · Parenting · The book of Job

Job… the beginning

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Job has long been my favorite book of the Bible. I have read it many times and have taken notes through each reading. For Christmas, my daughter purchased a study by Christoper Ash called “Trusting God in the Darkness” for me to use to get someone else’s perspective on Job. So far it has been a great study.

Somewhat unrelated to the study, but found because I’m reading through the book carefully, I came across a verse that made me take note.

Job 1:5 says:

…. Job would send and consecrate them {his children}, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

As a parent I was struck by his actions. Daily he rose and made offerings for his children to cover any sin that they might do. Ouch is what I say to myself.

Do I pray for my children each day bringing them before God? Asking his protection over them… asking Him to guide them to the right choices… to remind them to put on the armor of God? For me, compared to Job, it would be so easy to do this daily act. I do not have to do burnt offerings anymore. I can just take some quiet time and lift each of our children before him.

It seems so easy, but I get so busy. Sure, there are days I do pray for each of them. There are times in our relationship that I pray HARD for them. But daily, to raise and first thing bring my children before him.

Today, I commit to bringing my children before the throne room. I may not know what their day brings, what their needs are, but neither did Job. He continued to do this for them just in case they needed to be forgiven. I can have confidence knowing that God already knows what the day will bring for them and doing my part to lift their names in prayer will keep me focused on knowing they are under his protection.

Bible Verse · Devotion

Count it Joy

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Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…

James 1:2

James is one of the most quoted books of the Bible and considered to be the proverbs of the New Testament. It is filled with wisdom for the believer and that second verse just jumps you right into the deep end.

Count it joy when I am in a trial? That seems so counterintuitive. When I’m in the midst of a trial my feelings are anything but joy. I want to be free of the trial not weighted down by the sadness, anger, hurt, or whatever of that trial. But yet… when I pause and find the joy, then I see the rest of what James says.

In that trial, as I choose joy, I know it is an opportunity for me strength my faith – to become steadfast and move closer to becoming perfect, complete, and lacking nothing. {verse 3-4). Much like the muscles in my body that grow stronger and more able to do things as I work them out, so will my faith as I walk through a trial.

I learn in that trial to seek God. I call on his name more and more. I ask for wisdom knowing he will give it to me generously (vs. 5). I can rest knowing that he is going to be with me in the trial and in it what he wants for me is to shine his light, point people to Christ, and have confidence that he is going to work out whatever it is for his glory.

Trials come with our walk with Christ. It is not avoidable. As we consider it joy, we can feel the peace of knowing that our walk with Him is getting stronger. We become unwavering knowing that He is with us in the low times – if not even more so – holding us up and giving us the wisdom we ask for as we are tested. Some trials will be short, but others may stay with us for a lifetime. Either way have find comfort knowing that it is making your faith stronger and you to become more like the one who created you.

Bible Verse · Devotion

Commit vs. Surrender

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My husband shared something our second son said at the end of a Bible study him and both of our sons have been doing. As normal, I’ve been thinking on a it a few days and wanted to share.

In the past, when you made the decision to follow Christ, you said “I surrender my life to God”. These days it’s more often said “I commit my life to God”. But we can commit to many things…. but we can only surrender to one thing. We need to get back to saying I surrender.

So what really is the difference between the two words? Let’s look at some definitions of them.

Surrender:

  • to yield something to the possession of power to another
  • to give oneself up in to the power of another
  • to give up, abandon, or relinquish
  • to yield in favor of another

Commitment

  • to pledge
  • to bind or obligate
  • to entrust for safekeeping
  • to do, perform
  • to engage oneself

Seems like a subtle difference however, to surrender you have to yield or give up all of yourself. That would seem to mean only one thing we can surrender too. All of oneself can only cover one thing. When we commit, we are actively doing something – pledging, entrusting, engaging. We can commit to doing so many things, especially in this “do it all” society. So in one, I am letting, in this case God, take over my life. Whereas, to commit I keep some of the authority since I get to choose if I want to do.

It seems that we can not commit without surrendering. It would lead to inconsistency in our walk with Christ. We could waver on the path he is choosing for us because we still think we have some authority. However when we surrender along with committing we can stay under his gentle guidance and be aligned with what he wants for us. Without surrendering we might be great Christians on Sunday morning, or with Christian friends, but in other situations we waver from that walk and say or do things we would never do.

But to surrender is where consistent Christ-like living occurs.

We need to surrender first. Yield oneself to the power and grace of the Lord. Surrender all we are and hope to become. Surrender our pain and our joys. Surrender our wills to the one who knows us better than we know ourselves.

Then we need to commitment second. Surrendering allows the Holy Spirit to work his power through you and away from working out things on our own. Surrender is a yielding to the Lord’s authority and then giving him our pledge to live as he would have us to live. Without surrender, commitment is empty and becomes a choice.

Each day, some times multiple times a day, we have to surrender again to God. It’s easy to slip away. As we study His word and spend quiet time with Him, each day it gets easier. Commitment then becomes easier. We begin to see that all things work for His glory and we can have hope in the despair because we have surrendered to him and he will be with us in the highs and the lows.

In the end, if we just commit to God and do not surrender I think of Paul as he talks about not running aimlessly or boxing with the air. That’s all we are doing. How can we follow Him and lead others to Christ without surrendering? Surrendering gives us self control so we do not get disqualified, but instead live a life fully for Christ.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Bible Verse · Devotion

The New Covenant

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For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD; I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah 31:-31-35

This passage was part of the daily reading today. So much packed into these four verses. The “back story” here is Jeremiah is a prophet in Judah telling them that they have sinned by disobeying God and ignoring His word thus God’s wrath is about to fall onto them as Babylonia’s are about to conquer and enslave them. However, inside all of this destruction and seemingly end of the people, God gives them hope in these verses. He promises them a new covenant which comes with Jesus Christ.

I love how God says “I will write it on their hearts”. So intimate and personal. Each of us that accepts the gift of salvation will have His law written on their heart by HIM. It is hard to stray from it when you carry it within you. It is not as in the Old Testament where only the high priests could be that close to God and read his word. We have access to it within us. Unlike the old covenant written on stone tablets that can be broken and scrolls that can be lost, the new covenant will be written within the people, on their very hearts.

The hope of the end of the verses is two fold. First “for they shall all know me”… everyone. No need for religious education, because everyone will know God, from the king to the stable boy, from the oldest elder to the youngest child. Everyone knows him, they just have to choose to accept his free gift of salvation and he will come alive within our hearts.

Second “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” which is the greatest promise of this text. He will forgive our sins… everyone of them and we will sin no more. This can be hard for us to comprehend. So many of us want to work to be forgiven of our sins, or think our sins are two great to be forgiven but here we see (and is only one of many verses that says this) God just forgives. Period. He wipes the slate clean for ANYONE, for ANY SIN. And, we will sin no more. This part is a process as we become closer with the one who created us and forgives us, we become more like him and we will sin less and less.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this new covenant. You need only say a simple prayer to follow him and be forgiven of your sins. You will get a fresh slate. A new start. A life filled with hope knowing you will live with him in eternity.