What’s So Good About the Gospel?

What’s So Good About the Gospel?

If you ask ten people to define the gospel, you’ll likely get ten different answers. Over time and through frequency of use, the word gospel has lost much of its meaning. As Christians, we know it has to do with salvation. We accepted the gospel when we came to faith in Jesus, and we’re supposed to share the gospel with others.

Yet how can we share what we don’t clearly understand? What does the Bible really teach about the gospel?

To read more about the gospel, who it’s for, and what makes it really good news, hop over to Bible Study Tools:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/whats-so-good-about-the-gospel.html

7 Qualities of a Peacemaker

7 Qualities of a Peacemaker

How can Christians promote peace in a world filled with conflict? What qualities characterize those who work for harmony and reconciliation?

The theme of peace weaves through Scripture like a golden thread. Jesus left his disciples with the promise of peace (John 14:27). Ephesians describes the good news of our faith as “the gospel of peace” (6:15) and God calls Christians to “live in peace” (2 Corinthians 13:11).

But what is this peace the Bible describes? Is it the absence of hardship or avoidance of conflict? Can everyday Christians experience it, or is it reserved for a few “super saints?”

To read the rest of the article, hop over to Bible Study Tools:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/slideshows/7-undeniable-qualities-of-a-peacemaker.html

5 Tips for Reading the Bible to Find God

5 Tips for Reading the Bible to Find God

Seven years ago, I set out on a journey. This month I reached my destination.

I’ve never been a “read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year” person, although I’ve started such plans more than once, never making it past the first few books of the Old Testament.

Seven years ago, though, I was desperate. A series of life crises and some pretty astounding encounters with grace caused me to take a hard look at my beliefs about God.

At that point, I’d been a Christian for 30 years. I had studied the Bible since my teens and filled a dozen or more journals with conversations I’d had with God. Yet when life fell apart, it was as if I met Him all over again.

The God who showed up in my brokenness was far more welcoming and merciful than I had believed.

Instead of meeting me with condemnation, He lavished acceptance upon me. Instead of expressing disappointment, He showed me His delight over me. Instead of telling me to get up and get back to work, He lifted the burden of a try-harder life and gave rest to my soul.

He surprised me.

He dazzled my weary heart.

And oh, how He drew me to want to know Him better.

So I grabbed my Bible and a journal, picked a reading plan that would allow me to move at my own pace, and asked God to reveal Himself to me. To correct any misconceptions I had about His character. To help me understand who He really is.

I read ever so slowly, jotting down every single thing I noticed about God from Genesis to Revelation. It took seven years and five journals, but without a doubt, this journey through Scripture has been the most life-changing Bible study I’ve ever done.

Maybe you are a “read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year” kind of person. Maybe, like me, you’ve started and given up or gotten distracted. Maybe you gravitate to your favorite verses and chapters, but you’ve never tried reading through the whole big Bible. Or maybe you’re new to Bible study and are looking for a good place to start.

Whatever your normal practice is, I invite you to dive deeply into Scripture with the singular purpose of knowing God more intimately.

Here are my top ­­five tips on looking for God as you journey through His Word:

  1. Find your best reading plan.

Reading the Old and New Testaments simultaneously can keep us from getting bogged down in the harder sections of the Old Testament. (For me, those are the genealogies or the many details of building the Israelite’s tabernacle.)

I highly recommend the “Reading Plan” app by James H. Price.  This app guided me through my seven-year adventure. In the app settings, I chose a “thematic plan,” specifically designed for reading related passages together.

  • Listen for God’s Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, helping us understand truths only spiritually discerned, I like to begin my study time with prayer. Sometimes I forget, and God is still faithful to teach me, but praying first reminds me of my need for His wisdom.

  • Choose quality over quantity.

While there’s certainly value in reading large sections of Scripture at a time, I love studying slowly so I have time to think deeply and converse with God about what I’m learning. In the Reading Plan app settings, I set the titles to “reading numbers,” rather than the date, so I didn’t feel behind as I read at my own pace. I also set it to “open to last read” for the same reason.

  • Take lots of notes.

Jot down everything you see about God as you read. You may find these things expressly stated, as in the following verse – “…The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6b). Using bullet points, my notes would look something like this:

  • You are the LORD (which means YHWH, the I Am)
  • You are compassionate
  • You are gracious
  • You are slow in expressing anger
  • You love is abundant
  • Your faithfulness is abundant

In other verses, you may observe God’s character indirectly as you read stories of how He interacts with His creation, as in the book of Jonah, where God both raised up and destroyed a plant to shield Jonah from the sun’s heat. In that instance, I might record:

  • You give and take away
  • You use physical realities to teach us spiritual truths

Included in my “Bible Study Bundle” freebie is a printable entitled, “Who Are You, God?” It’s designed specifically for taking notes on what you learn about God as you journey through His Word. If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you should have already received this pdf bundle in a welcome email. If you’d like to get a copy, enter your email address below and I’ll send it your way.

You can also use a journal for keeping these notes. I like to record the book and chapter at the top of my journal page, then use bullet points to record individual items underneath.

  • Give yourself grace.

Reading through the Bible is like a marathon, not a sprint. It’s okay for it to take a long time. There may be days you don’t get to your Bible reading. You may take a break to study a specific topic or join a Bible study your friends invited you to participate in. Your reading plan will be there waiting for you when you get back.

There’s no rush, no spiritual “to do list” demanding you check all the boxes.

Bible study is about knowing God and relating to Him over the pages of His Word.

Enjoy Him! Savor your quiet time. He’s not in a hurry and we don’t have to be either.

I hope these ideas are helpful! I’d love to hear how they work for you, as well as your own tips for studying the Bible! Please drop me a comment below!

Hindsight on 2020: Three Things I See Clearly Now

Hindsight on 2020: Three Things I See Clearly Now

Speechless.

That’s how I’ve felt this year more times than I can count. Other than journaling, I’ve written very little.

I’ve experienced all the feelings – fear, contentment, anxiety, peace, sorrow, happiness, disappointment, hope. Processing rogue emotions with Jesus and landing back on solid ground has felt like a full-time job.

But hindsight is 20/20, they say (whoever they are.) As I look back on the past 364 days, three things have become unmistakably clear to me.

  1. 2020 has been hard.

Sometimes we Christians avoid speaking candidly about negative things. We fear being coined a complainer or labeled as someone who’s selfish or has weak faith. We even shy away from bringing raw emotions to God because we know He wants us to be grateful and to trust Him in both good times and bad.

But an honest acknowledgement is often the first step in processing our emotions, confronting our doubts, and moving deeper in our faith – a depth we’ll never experience if we simply gloss over our struggles.

2020 has been hard. We’ve all felt the sting of cancelling long-anticipated plans. We’ve been lonely, stir crazy as the hours tick by in the walls we’re mandated to stay within.

Our family lost a friend we loved as our own and the tears just come up without warning. We’ve self-quarantined three times, on top of the state-wide shut-down which grounded us all this spring. We’ve endured the discomfort of the covid19 test four times more than we’d like. We’ve worried about paying the bills during weeks when my husband has had to stay home.

This year has had more than its share of anxiety, disappointment, and pain.

But ours is a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6). He understands our feelings because He’s felt them, too – both as an emotive God and more specifically, as the God-man who walked among us for thirty-three years. He can sympathize with our weakness, our heartache, and our discouragement.

He invites His own to come to Him boldly and pour out everything stirring in our souls.

Will you take Him up on His invitation?

2. 2020 has seen God “up to great good.”

Midway through the pandemic, I enjoyed a phone meeting with my dear mentor. We talked about the hardships and frustrations we’d faced that spring and then she said, “But God is up to great good here.”

Our conversation screeched to a halt as I paused to consider her words. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard her say that. It’s kind of like her mantra. But I’d lost sight of it in the mess of 2020. I asked her to help me see some good, because my faith was anything but strong at that moment.

She told me a story or two of lives she’d seen touched by the redemptive power of God’s presence. Her faith bolstered mine and my vision improved.

It wasn’t long before I, too, could see God’s goodness weaving through our year – His work in drawing our family closer, His nudge toward slowing down, His miracles in meeting our physical needs and watering the seeds of my kids’ faith.

Sometimes we need a good friend to help us refocus when our own lens of faith goes fuzzy.

Who is that friend in your life?

If you don’t have such a friend right now, it’s okay – God is the Friend who sticks even closer than family. He’ll gladly point out His goodness if we ask Him.

3. 2021 has a clear forecast.

Even as I type those words, I struggle to believe they’re true. Humanly speaking, the year ahead looks like storm clouds and more rain. Our troubles aren’t going to vanish when the clock strikes midnight.

But as Jesus-followers, we’re not limited to our human perspective. Thank goodness, because fear tends to suffocate my soul if I look too long through my own lenses.

As we turn our hearts toward Jesus and seek shelter near His heart, He readjusts our focus to see more of what He sees.

Here’s the clear forecast for 2021:

  • God won’t change. We can anchor our souls to the reliability of His character and His Word.
  • God will always be up to great good. Whatever troubles come, Jesus is greater and in Him, we overwhelmingly conquer.
  • God won’t forget us or leave us on our own. His wisdom, His power, His very presence are available to us every moment of every day.

As we step into this near year, let’s set our hearts anew to seek this God whose nearness is our good (Psalm 73:28). More than anything, we need Him.

I’m planning to set aside a day (or portion of a day) in January to get alone with God. In case you’d like to do this, too, check out “Planning a Retreat with God” in my Freebie Library to help you make the most of that time.

Happy New Year!

3 Reasons We Grow Weary (And What to Do When We Are)

3 Reasons We Grow Weary (And What to Do When We Are)

Have you ever been so tired you wished you’d come down with a bug, just so you’d have an excuse to stay in bed?

I’ll admit, I’ve hoped for such a thing on more than one occasion.

Last fall was one of our family’s busiest seasons ever. Between sports obligations, church commitments, school assignments, and a full remodel of our 1960’s kitchen, our schedule was incredibly full. Often feelings of weariness, frustration, and just plain anger overwhelmed me.

During those months of crazy, God repeatedly reminded me of the following passage:

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV).

As I prayed through those verses, I realized that several factors can contribute to our feelings of weariness:

  1. We’re carrying burdens of our own

I’m a natural-born people pleaser. As such, it’s really easy for me to over-commit. To take on responsibilities God never asked me to carry. To try to solve people’s problems myself, rather than pointing them to Christ, praying for them, and stepping aside as He works in their lives.

You may have heard the saying, “Every yes to one thing is a no to something else.” I’m not sure who said it first, but I find it helpful to remind myself of that reality. If I’m spending time and energy on things God hasn’t called me to do, I’m unavailable for those areas where He is leading me to serve.

  1. We’re shouldering God-given responsibilities alone

Sometimes, we are living within the calling He’s placed on our lives. Our responsibilities are gifts from Him. Yet we’re weary because we’re trying to carry those things on our own.

We’re living for God, instead of with God.

In the above verses, Jesus references a “yoke,” a piece of wood placed over the necks of oxen for use in plowing a field. Yokes are often placed on a pair of oxen so they can work in sync. Through this image, we see Jesus calling us into the yoke with Him — not because He needs our help, but because we desperately need His. He invites us to walk in moment-by-moment connection with Him as we carry the responsibilities He’s entrusted to our care.

  1. We’re in an intense season of learning

Some seasons are unavoidably exhausting and relentlessly demanding. We’re juggling God-given jobs and we’re looking to Him for strength. Even so, we feel we’re barely hanging on.

Jesus understood. He spent His days loving and serving, teaching and healing. He was no stranger to busyness and exhaustion (Mark 6:31).

In our times of weariness when nothing can or should be changed, He calls us to learn from Him. To fix our gaze on the God who loved well, who knew how to make room for rest, and who poured out His life in service for those He loved.

He was gentle. He was humble. And He is our Source of rest.

So today, if your heart is weary and you’re overwhelmed by life’s burdens, Jesus invites you to draw near.

In the midst of our crazy, one thing matters above all else — walking in relationship with Him. He wants to show us which responsibilities He’s calling us to carry, and He’s eager to bear them with us. He longs to reveal His heart and teach us to find in Him the fulfillment of our every need.

How do you find rest in Him when you’re weary? I’d love to hear — please leave a comment below.

Twenty Questions with a Stranger

Twenty Questions with a Stranger

Have you ever played Twenty Questions with a stranger?

Last fall, a new friend on Instagram invited me to participate in an interview — twenty questions about life and faith and my relationship with God. It took me until Christmastime to return my answers — they weren’t quick and easy! A lot of other interviewees were in line ahead of me, but this week the interview went live.

Questions ranged from “What’s on your nightstand right now?” to “What are your top three tips for staying spiritually strong?”

Here’s my favorite question, along with my answer:

“What do you want people to learn about God when they look at you?

“When people see my life and hear my story, I hope the relentless love of God comes to the forefront in dazzling splendor. I pray they sense the still, small voice of God whispering His delight over them and graciously drawing them closer to His heart.”

If you’re curious about the rest of the interview, I’d love for you to hop over to Modern Witnesses