Month: January 2016

Revive Me #4, Know Your Father Better

Revive Me, Week Four–A Year of Drawing Closer to Our Lord

Know Your Father Better

I own a book called “Staying Close–Stopping the Natural Drift Toward Isolation.”  It’s about the fact that couples can drift apart without realizing it.  Because of busy schedules, new interests, etc., couples need to put effort into staying close, or they may wake up one day wondering how they turned into strangers.

When it comes to your relationship with God, there may be times when it feels like He is a stranger.  Perhaps He feels far away or removed from your life.  It may seem hard to feel close to a God you can’t “see.”  Or perhaps your communication with Him has been stagnant.  Your prayers have become a matter of routine.  You no longer crave His Word.

“Staying Close” encourages couples to intentionally renew their acquaintance with each other on a regular basis.  Surely it’s a good idea for Christians to intentionally renew their acquaintance with the Father.  God never changes (Mal. 3:6), but we do.  God never moves away from us, but we can drift away from Him (Psa. 145:18,19; Heb. 2:1).

Spend some time this week getting to know your Father better.  You may have known Him for most of your life, but focusing on Who He is will remind you why you love Him.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”  (James 4:8).

Suggestions for the week:

  • Read the following passages and write down what you learn about your Father (from a-z!):

a.  Exodus 34:5,6-

b.  Numbers 23:19-

c.  Deut. 3:24-

d.  Deut. 4:24-

e.  Deut. 4:31-

f.  Deut. 10:17-

g.  Deut. 33:27-

h.  Josh. 1:9-

i.  2 Sam. 22:32,33-

j.  2 Chron. 30:9-

k.  Psa. 62:7,8-

l.  Psa. 68:19,20-

m.  Psa. 84:11,12-

n.  Psa. 103-

o.  Psa. 116:5-

p.  Isa. 40:28-

q. Micah 7:18,19-

r.  Matt. 19:26-

s.  Acts 10:34-

t.  1 Cor. 1:9-

u.  1 Cor. 10:13-

v.  1 Cor. 14:33-

w. 1 Pet. 1:15

x.  2 Pet. 3:9-

y.  1 John 1:5-

z.  1 John 4:7-9-

  • Pray to your Father about knowing Him better and allowing that knowledge to shape your relationship with Him.

Pray it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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Revive Me, Week Three

Revive Me–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord, Week Three

Choose Your Verse of the Year

Sometimes companies and bloggers spend time thinking of what will be their “word of the year”–a word they will focus on each day of the new year.  It could be a word that describes a goal they’re trying to reach or an area in which they’d like to improve.  Some bloggers have come up with words like “flexible,” “inspire,” or “freedom.”  I think this is a great idea, and I think it’d be even better to come up with a verse of the year.  Instead of coming up with a word, what could be more motivating than utilizing the Word?

“You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

(2 Tim. 3:14-17)

Spend some time thinking about your own personal verse of the year.  Here are some questions to consider as you contemplate which verse would be best for you:

  • Is there an area in which you continue to struggle (like complaining or purity)?
  • Is there a spiritual goal you’re trying to reach (like deeper Bible study or praying 30 minutes a day)?
  • Is there a verse that especially touches you?
  • Is there a command you find difficult to obey (like evangelism or loving your enemy)?
  • Is there a person in the Bible whom you’d like to emulate (like Abraham, Hannah, or Joseph)?
  • Is there a character trait you need to refine (like patience or honesty)?

If you know what you’d like to focus on but are having a hard time coming up with just the right verse, let me know and maybe we can come up with something together (or ask someone who knows you well).  After you decide which Scripture will be your personal verse of the year, look for ways to make it easier to remember.

Suggestions for this week:

  1.  Pray the verse.  Go to God about your desires about the verse you’ll be focusing on this year.
  2. Share the challenge.  Ask your spouse or a dear friend to do this with you.  You can encourage each other, remind each other, and check up on each other.
  3. Create a wordle (word cloud) out of your verse and hang it in a prominent place.  You can generate one here.
  4. Memorize your verse.  Say it several times a day and look for ways to slip it into your conversations.
  5. Study your verse.  Break it down word by word.  Write down as many observations about it as you can.

Pray it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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Revive Me, Week Two

Revive Me–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord, Week Two

Open Your Heart Again

It may be that your heart is already wide open.  You express your love for others daily and look for ways to prove that love with action.  You keep your eyes open for those who are needy or who slip through the cracks.  You are quick to reach out to those who are hurting.

Or maybe you’ve been so overwhelmed with everything going on in your life that the idea of caring for one more person exhausts you.  You’ve been stressed and worried for so long that you find yourself unable to feel.  You’re starting to resent being asked to help someone else.

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4).  Loving God involves investing in His people.  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also (1 John 4:21).

It is all too easy to get caught up in our own interests.  When that happens, a heart check is in order.  Some questions to consider:

  • Has your heart become numb?
  • In an effort of self-preservation, have you withdrawn from others or limited your love to mainly those who are in your family?   
  • Have you become indifferent to the prayer requests in the announcements?
  • Does it feel like it takes too much effort to look others in the eye and engage in meaningful conversations?
  • Do you find yourself coming up with more and more reasons to leave right after worship?     

Surely Satan is thrilled when we resist going to effort of loving others.  We serve a God of love (1 John 4:8).  The church is supposed to be made up of loving people (Rom. 12:10-13).  And the world is to recognize us by our love for one another (John 13:35).   Someone said, “Interaction is really where true love is truly expressed.”  Let’s go far in reaching others with God’s love this year.

Suggestions for this week:

  1.  Have a heart study.  Focus on verses that have to do with the heart and what God wants from it.
  2. Jot down names of those who are struggling or hurting.  In addition to praying for them, reach out to them in some tangible way (hug, conversation, card).
  3. Encourage every member of your family (young and old) to make an effort to build up others each time you meet (Heb. 10:25).
  4. When you run errands, be intentional about really “seeing” the people around you.  How can you open your heart to them?
  5. Consider memorizing 1 John 3:18      

Pray it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

Revive Me, Week One

Revive Me–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord, Week One

Rest Your Faith on the Power of God

What is the foundation of your faith?  As you begin a brand new year of living for Christ, this basic question is crucial.  Listen to Paul’s message to Christians:

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with the superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

The word “rest” here means “exist; be located in.”  Paul warns Christians not to build their faith on the wisdom of men (including himself), but on the message of Christ.  The wisdom of men may be persuasive, but it is powerless.  If your faith feels a little weak or uncertain, perhaps you’ve neglected to spend enough time tapping into the right Source.  Here are some questions to consider:

  • Do you spend more time reading the good writings of men/ women than you do the Bible?
  • Are your convictions based on what you’ve always been taught or from your own diligent study of the Word?
  • When you listen to or read the messages of preachers, do you “search the Scriptures daily to see whether those things are so” (Acts 17:11)?

This may be the year your faith is tested like never before.  Make sure you are building YOUR faith on the power of God.

Some suggestions for this week:

  1.  Read 1 Cor. 1-3.
  2.  In that text, note the contrast between the wisdom of men and the word of God.  If you like to mark in your Bible, underline the words that describe the wisdom of men and circle the words that describe the word of God.
  3. Listen to sermons and read articles with discernment.  Follow up by looking up the Scripture references that are used to make sure they aren’t taken out of context.
  4. Pray each day for desire to grow your faith in the Word.
  5. Consider memorizing Heb. 4:12.

Pray it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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