The Glorious Revealing of our Glorious God: Open Your Bible Week Two

As we are working through the Open Your Bible series, there's one topic that is covered in Week Two that I couldn't let pass by without stopping for a bit to explain. (If you're studying with us, check out page 20.)

I think that we'd all agree that God is pretty mysterious, right? You can live an entire lifetime growing closer to him and you'd only know just a small part of Him. He wants us to seek him and find him and know him more as he reveals himself to us.

First of all, a technical definition of the revelation of God is this:  an uncovering, a removal of the veil, a disclosure of what was previously unknown. More specifically, God’s manifestation of himself to humankind in such a way that men and women can know and have fellowship with him.

In real-life terms, God’s revelation is the way he shows himself to us in a way that we can know Him more and grow in our relationship with him. 

We’re going to go pretty deep for a few minutes, so brace yourselves! 

There are two generally accepted ways that God reveals himself to us. The first is through general revelation, also sometimes called natural revelation. This is when God reveals Himself to us through creation. Psalm 19:1 says “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” We stand in awe of God’s creation because it is tangible evidence of his existence and his care for us.  Romans 1:20 says “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” All of creation testifies and proclaims the glory of God.

The other type of revelation is called special revelation. While general revelation through creation is available to all people, God’s special revelation is a bit different. It is available to specific people at specific places and specific times. Let’s think of this type of revelation as having three stages.

The first is Jesus. God revealed himself to a specific group and number of people during a specific time period while Jesus walked the earth. This was very specific revelation. 

The second stage of revelation is Scripture. God has revealed himself through his written word, the Bible. Because Scripture is whole and complete and inerrant, we have everything that God intended to reveal to us at our fingertips on the pages of Scripture.

The third stage of revelation is the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us understand the written words that God has given us on the pages of Scripture. 

Not many of us would disagree with the idea that creation proclaims the glory of God or that Jesus is the perfect revelation of God or that God has revealed himself to us through his Word. It’s that third stage that we tend to have differing views on - the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Here’s what I believe this part of God’s special revelation boils down to.

For Non-Believers: The first thing the Holy Spirit does for the non-believer is bring about a conviction of sin. If you’ve never given your life to Jesus, gotten saved, asked Jesus into your heart…If you’ve never made Jesus your boss, there’s no time like the present. I’d love to talk to you more about that and start with you on your journey hearing God speak to you and following Him in obedience.

For Believers: Have you ever read a passage of Scripture that you’ve read a hundred times before, only to read it the 101^st time and learn something completely brand new? Have you ever had a teacher point out something from Scripture that you’d never realized before? The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the truths of Scripture in new and fresh ways all the time. Sometimes you read something from Scripture that seems to apply exactly to the situation you are in at the time. This is the illumination that the Holy Spirit brings.

There will surely be those of you that disagree with me on this - and that’s ok! My beliefs line right up with the idea that God has revealed everything He is going to reveal in Scripture. The Holy Spirit illuminates and guides and confirms the Scripture but does not reveal anything new. It’s ok if you disagree as long as you can back it up with Scripture! 

John MacArthur teaches, “The orthodox teaching of Christianity has always affirmed that God’s special, saving revelation to mankind is restricted to the teachings of the Scriptures.” He also says, “Scripture is a closed system of truth, complete, sufficient, and not to be added to (Revelation 22:18–19). It contains all the spiritual truth God intended to reveal.”

I love the quote on page 22 of Open Your Bible by Kevin DeYoung. “You do not need another special revelation from God outside the Bible. You can listen to the voice of God every day. Christ still speaks, because the Spirit has already spoken. If you want to hear from God, go to the book that records only what he has said. Immerse yourself in the word of God. You will not find anything more sure.” 

I also love the Scripture referenced on page 27, 1 John 2:27. “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie - just as it has taught you, abide in him.” The question on page 27 says “Is it possible for a person to sit down by herself and be taught the truth from God’s Word?” I hope you answered with a FIRM YES. 

We (as believers) have every bit of God’s revelation at our disposal. We have his general revelation - all of creation. And we have his special revelation - Scripture illuminated by the Holy Spirit. We don’t need any other thing. We don’t need any book, blog, teacher, friend, pastor, article, prophecy or any other thing to help us understand who God is and what He wants us to know. We have everything we need at our fingertips in the complete, perfect Word of God. So I challenge you today to seek him and find him and know him more as he reveals himself to you!

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ Jesus: Open Your Bible!

If you were to take stock of the number of Bibles in my home, I'm sure the number would be at least in the twenties. We've got the ESV, NIV, KJV, NASB, HCSB, The Message, children's Bibles, New Testaments, study Bibles and Bibles on every computer and mobile device. I am a Bible teacher and I am married to a Bible preacher. I was born and raised with a Bible in my hand and could hold my own in any Bible drill or Scripture memory contest. I truly, honestly, totally LOVE God's Word.

So WHY, oh WHY do I fail to read it every day?

Here's the answer I've come up with (and it hurts): I just really don't want to.

I have a feeling I'm not alone here. In fact, I know I'm not. I sat with two other precious, godly ladies in our Bible study group on Wednesday who confessed to the same sin. We don't read our Bibles daily. We had a bunch of reasons, most of which revolved around young children in our homes and busy-ness and exhaustion. One even confessed that she set up a notification on her phone's Bible app that reminds her each day to read her Bible, but she often swipes it away and heads to Facebook instead. She's not alone either. I can relate.

In the interest of full disclosure: I haven't read my Bible today. Right now cartoons are blaring from the tv and with four kids home for the summer, someone keeps needing something every few seconds. Kids. I usually fill my days with appointments and errands and mothering. Busy. I'll go to bed and honestly I'm not sure if I'll read before bed either. Tired.

When you sift through all of the lame excuses and get to the heart of this particular issue, you'll find that the reason I don't open my Bible every day actually has nothing to do with my kids or that I'm too busy or that I'm too tired. It's that I value other things over God's Word. Stupid things like social media and tv and chores and hobbies. Good things like my husband and children and church and home. Remember what Paul says about that?

Did you catch that? EVERYTHING is loss next to Jesus. The bad things and the good things - All are loss compared to knowing Jesus. That means those precious kids He has entrusted to me on this earth are LOSS compared with Jesus. The items on my to-do list are worthless next to Him. Every excuse I can come up with for not seeking to know Him more is absolutely stupid because none of them can explain away the fact that ultimately I just put everything else before Jesus. It kills me to type that out in black and white.

But as they say, the first step to healing is admitting you need help, right? So would you join me in this journey to open the Bible? I won't get it right 100% of the time and neither will you. But if we can begin to take steps that bring us closer to Jesus, we will discover the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. And just like Paul, I'm convinced that everything else is loss because of the worth of knowing Him.

So guess what I just did? I ignored the cartoons blaring and the steady stream of questions and needs from the kids. I put my to-do list aside for just a minute and I opened my Bible. Technically, I opened another window on my computer, but hey, it's the Bible! Are you on the computer right now? Your phone? Your tablet? I bet if you take just a minute, you can switch over to the Bible too! So, my friend, no more excuses. OPEN YOUR BIBLE!

I'll be blogging through our summer Bible study called "Open Your Bible" by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams. You can get a book from me any time if you're local or you can order one to be shipped to your doorstep from this link right here! I'd love for you to check out the She Reads Truth page to read an excerpt from this week's group time. It's so so good. Find it here. 

Target Bathrooms, Coffee Cups and Cakes: How Should Christ-Followers Respond?

I have a theory about the Target boycott that has stemmed from their policy to allow shoppers to use the bathroom that has the gender sign on the door that they most identify with. As of today, 517,000 people have signed a petition stating that because of this policy, they will not shop at Target. Target has released a statement standing by their policy. So here's my theory:

Christ-followers ought to be far less concerned with where they shop and where they boycott and far more concerned with how to follow Christ in these days where situations like this become more commonplace.

Notice I said when, not if. It should come as no surprise to those of us who follow Christ that we are living in the end times. Technically, the end times include every day between the day of the ascension of Jesus until the day he returns. So yesterday, today, tomorrow - we are in the end times. The Bible has lots to say about these days and not one of those Scriptures implies that corporations will create their policies in accordance with the Holy Scriptures. Not one verse implies that the earthly government will honor Christ or that the USA will be one nation under God. Schools will not endorse prayer. Monuments displaying the Ten Commandments will not be on courthouse lawns. Coffee companies will not put jingle bells on their cups. Lawsuits will not be settled in favor of Christ-followers taking a stand on biblical principals.

Christ-follower, stop being surprised.

For some reason, many of us have fallen under the mistaken impression that people (and companies and governments) who have never claimed to follow Christ, should happily and willingly submit to the authority of God and His Word.

We're surprised when unbelievers act like unbelievers.

We're surprised when secular companies act like secular companies. We panic and post unloving statements on social media. We make promises to boycott companies (that most of the time we don't actually intend to keep). We have conversations over coffee and in Sunday School classes and through text messages that have no root in Scripture and every root in ignorance of the Scriptures.

Listen, I'm not going to tell you where to buy your groceries. That's between you and the Lord. But what I will say is that we are seeing something that God promised we would see.

"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Not only will we see these behaviors in people and companies that are self-proclaimed secular to the core, Scripture says we will see these behaviors in people who have the appearance of godliness!

Christ-follower, stop being surprised! It's only going to get worse.

We are fast approaching the day when we will see a separation in the church. Kyle Idelman said it best in his book, Not a Fan:

The risks of following Christ will soon outweigh the worldly benefits in America. It's going to cost us something if we are going to follow Christ, not just call ourselves Christians. Many church leaders have tried so hard to make church an inviting, appealing place that is enjoyable to those who would call themselves Christians. Even today, those churches are growing in number while the number of those who actually follow Christ is dwindling. Many churches are comfortable places where friends gather, children play, motivational speeches are given and attenders walk out the doors boasting about what a great time they had. Many churches will continue to grow, full of people who call Him, "Lord, Lord" but who have no real relationship with Him. 

Slowly, almost silently a movement is taking place and real Christ-followers are beginning to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him. They're not comfortable and they're not boasting about what a good time they're having. They're facing ridicule and slander. They're losing friends, losing jobs, losing business, losing income. The day is coming when American Christ-followers will face persecution, imprisonment and even the loss of life, similar to what Christ-followers in other nations have been experiencing for years. The bathrooms in Target and the decorations on the coffee cups and the lawsuits are just the tip of the iceberg.

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 

Christ-follower, do not let this catch you by surprise.

When Threats Try to Steal Our Faith (and other hard parenting stuff!)

This parenting business is no joke.

This week alone I had what I would consider several parenting victories and several parenting defeats. And that's probably an understatement on both sides. On Wednesday, I overheard my eleven-year-old tell her best friend that she tells me everything. Victory! Every one of my kids has spent far too much time perched in front of a screen of one sort or another this week. Defeat. I could tell you a thousand more, but I bet you've got enough of your own examples that I don't need to reveal any more of my shortcomings! It seems that I'm constantly bouncing back and forth between getting it all right and getting it all wrong.

And of course not every parenting decision is as simple as allowing the tv to be on or off. This week we had to decide if we should send our kids to school after we were informed that someone had written a threat to "shoot up the school on Friday" on the bathroom wall at the high school. I wanted to hold all of my babies close and call it a day. I wanted to lock the doors, draw the blinds and hibernate with my kids. I'll be honest - I even thought about withdrawing them all and homeschooling! And then I remembered to pray.

(Disclaimer goes here: In no way do I intend to stand in judgment of any parent who chose to keep their child home from school on Friday. We all make the decisions we think are best for our kids at the time. I just want to share how we came to our own decision and how we hope to decide when it comes up again one day.)

We debated the choice, weighing all of our options, discussing the possibilities, talking about the ramifications of our decision. None of that mattered in the end. As I prayed, I was reminded that God is the one who carries my babies (and my not-so-babies) to school each day, whether there is a shooter-threat or not. I thought about how each one of them was created in their mother's womb and how He knew them in the secret place, even before I did. I remembered how much he cares for them and how He loves them more than I ever could.

But what if they are injured?

But what if they witness something horrific?

But what if they are scarred for life?

But what if I lose them?

This decision wasn't easy. None of these parenting decisions are easy. And I know there will be many, many more decisions on this road of parenting that will just be plain hard. I began to think about what kind of people I want my kids to be. If I could pick just ONE thing for my kids to be, just ONE lesson to teach them, just ONE way to define them, what would it be? 

My wish would not be health.

My wish would not be happiness. 

My wish would not be perfection.

My wish would not be a long life. 

If I had ONE wish for my kids, it would be this:

I want them to bring God glory as they grow more in love with Him. 

Because if they don't get that, none of the other things matter. 

Now the good news is that I don't get just one wish for my kids and neither do you. We get to dream lots of dreams and hope with all our hearts that our kids will be healthy and happy and perfect and will live long, beautiful lives. But this world is a scary place and things like terrorism and school shootings and human trafficking and poverty and violence are very real things. There is one who will threaten to take our hopes and our dreams for our kids and smash them to pieces. It's in those times that we must remember what our ONE wish is for our kids.

Somehow we've got to make our most important parenting decisions based on our ONE wish that they grow more and more in love with God each day, instead of all of the other wishes for their health and safety. This world is bound to get more and more dangerous, especially for those of us who follow Jesus. It isn't going to get easier or safer or better. There will be more threats and more tragedies and more awful, awful things. But if my kids know how to grow more in love with God through those dark places, I couldn't ask for more.

So on Friday morning, seven Irvings circled around our kitchen island and Chris prayed that the Lord would keep them safe and healthy and then we turned our children over to the hands of the Father and sent them off to school so that they could know what it is to walk with Him. It wasn't an easy decision. We certainly didn't make it lightly. We prayed throughout the day. And we'll continue to pray because we know that threats like these are always there (and most of the time they aren't advertised on bathroom walls beforehand.) 

The precious promise I'm claiming in this crazy journey called parenthood? 

God has amazing things prepared for those who love Him. I want my kids to love Him! My prayer is that this will be the driving force behind all of these tough parenting decisions and that their love for Him will bring Him honor and glory!

Time to Repent! "Yes, Lord" When I'm Stuck In Sin

“Yes, Lord” When I’m Stuck in Sin

This weekend my family took a little road trip up to College Station to watch the Aggies play basketball. On the way up, we passed through Bastrop, where a few years ago wildfires destroyed so much of the beautiful forests full of pine trees that lined the highway. Chris pointed out what used to be the beautiful golf course and reminisced about times he’d played there. Now that golf course has been covered up by overgrown weeds and rocks and bushes and trees. He said, “Sin is just like that, you know? It takes something that was once beautiful and useful and chokes the life out of it and makes it ugly and useless.”

I’m gonna go ahead and give away the punchline here right off the bat. No secrets. No surprise endings. What should you do when you’re stuck in sin? REPENT. The end. There is no magic potion or fancy strategy here. When you are stuck in sin, REPENT. 

Dianne’s Letter

Last week in Christa’s discussion group, Dianne shared that she had lost a letter from her daughter that she hadn’t even gotten to read yet. She knew it was a special letter and she wanted to wait to read it until she had a chance to focus her full attention on it. But she couldn’t find it. She’d searched everywhere and just couldn’t find this letter. She shared with her group and they stopped and prayed that Dianne would find this letter. When they’d finished their discussion time, Pam and Dianne came out where I was and Pam asked Dianne if she could look in her purse for her. Dianne said, “Sure! I’ve looked in there several times and I’m sure it’s not in there, but go ahead. Maybe it’s stuck in my calendar or something.” So we stood there chatting while Pam dug around. Pam pulled out the calendar, opened it and Dianne gasped - there it was - The Letter! They both squealed and hugged and jumped up and down and cheered and I’m pretty sure I heard a couple of Hallelujahs in there! My eyes filled up with tears just watching it all unfold! She was so thrilled to finally find this special letter from her special daughter.

It made me think of a few stories Jesus told about lost things being found. Let’s read Luke 15.

Here we find Jesus surrounded by all sorts of people. There were tax collectors and sinners - the worst of the worst kind of people. These people flocked to Jesus because they saw that he had the power to change their lives. But he was also being watched by the Pharisees and the religious elite - they were skeptical and waiting for him to mess up.

His first story is about a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. One is lost, so he leaves the 99 to pursue the one. Jesus explains in verse 7 that there will be more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents than over the 99 who need no repentance. Of course it’s not that those 99 don’t need to repent, it’s that they think they don’t need to repent. Those Pharisees who were standing within earshot of Jesus as he taught this likely had no clue that they fell into the category with the 99. They thought that because they followed all the rules, they were ok. But they missed the whole point of Jesus’ teaching, so he told another story.

In this story a woman had lost a coin. Never mind that she had nine other coins. She lit a lamp and swept the house until she found her lost coin. Then she called her friends and they had a celebration over the found coin! Jesus explains that the angels in heaven rejoice over just one sinner who repents. 

Now Jesus really wanted to drive home the point with all of these listeners. Here he tells the story that we know as The Prodigal Son. A man’s youngest son takes his inheritance early and blows it all on wild living while the older son stays behind with the father and is very responsible with what belongs to him and his father. The younger son runs out of money and there’s a famine in the land and he realizes that his father’s servants are eating better than he is. So he decides to go back. He literally turns around and begins walking back toward the father. The Father had been waiting on him and runs to him as soon as he sees him coming back. He rejoices that his son has abandoned his former way of life and is choosing now to live in his care. He not only welcomes him, but he throws a huge party, complete with a fat calf. The older brother is pretty bitter about the way his younger brother is treated, but the father reminds him that everything that belongs to the Father also belongs to him.

God loves finding lost people. He’s been all about it from the very beginning. Remember the Garden? God came looking for Adam, even though He knew that he had chosen sin. In fact, the whole gospel story is evidence of God’s desire to find lost people! Before God ever created the heavens and the earth, he knew that this whole deal was going to be about finding lost people. He doesn’t begrudgingly seek us because he has to, as a response to the fact that we sinful people went and got ourselves lost. No, he planned and intended to find us from the very beginning of time! 

Initial Repentance - Realize you are Lost

There are a few phrases that we Christians like to toss around to make everything incredibly confusing. Phrases like “getting saved”, “asking Jesus into your heart”, “accepting Christ” “getting right with God” are all terms we use to talk about salvation. Let me make it simple for you. Your sin separates you from God. You can choose to keep sinning or you can choose to put God in charge of your life. You put God in charge by admitting you’re a sinner and that you need Him to be your Savior. Then you do everything you can to follow the example He gives you in Scripture. Some Christians remember the exact moment of their salvation. I do. I was 8 years old in my parent’s bedroom. Other Christians just look back over a period of time and know that it was in that time that they chose to turn away from their old sinful lives and turn toward a new life in Christ. Either way, the point is that there is a CHANGE. There’s a difference between the old way of life and the new way of life. We call that repentance. Repentance is defined as a literal change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in the whole personality from a sinful course of action to God.

If you’ve never repented - changed from a sinful life to a Christ-following life - please don’t let today go by without making that choice. You see, our repentance leads us to salvation. Without repentance, there is no salvation from sin. Without repentance we are separated from God here on earth, but also forever in eternity as well. More simply put, God will be in heaven forever and without repentance and salvation, you’ll be separated from him in hell forever. I truly hope you’ve made that choice.

Continual Repentance - Realize You can Change

After that initial repentance, turning away from our sin for the first time and choosing to follow Christ, life becomes perfect, right? Wrong! Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and even Christ-followers will always struggle with the temptation to sin. Jesus himself was tempted by Satan while he was here on earth but he didn’t give in to it. But does that mean we have to sin? Does that mean we can’t help it? Absolutely not! We can and we must choose not to sin. When we do mess up, we have to confess it to the Father and repent.

Often, Christ-followers who sin feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and they realize that they’ve messed up. They confess that sin to God and move on in a different direction. But sometimes, there are sin habits and patterns that are not so quickly eliminated. Sometimes even Christ-followers get caught in a particular sin and can’t seem to shake it, no matter how much they wish they could. Let’s look at Paul’s take on this: Romans 7:15-25.

No matter how many times you sin, even if it’s the same sin, over and over and over, God wants you to repent from that sin and walk in His ways. If you mess up again, repent again. If this sin pattern sounds all too familiar to you, it means you’re human! Don’t believe the lie that what you’ve done is too much for God to forgive or that because you can’t seem to break free from a sin habit, you should just give in to it. God wants you back. Remember there is nothing that can separate you from his love.

The Key to Fighting Habitual Sin

Habitual sin is any sin that you’ve allowed to become a habit. Sometimes habitual sin can seem pretty minor - maybe you’re not spending time with the Lord every day, maybe you haven’t prayed in a while, maybe your speech is littered with profanity, maybe your temper flares and you lose control pretty often. These are sins we need to deal with! And sometimes habitual sin looks even uglier and nastier to our human eyes (although it’s all the same to God!). Maybe you’ve let an occasional evening cocktail turn into an addiction that leads to repetitive drunkenness. Maybe you’ve got a bottle of painkillers that you can’t seem to stop using. Maybe you have a relationship with a man that is not your husband that has crossed over from friends to something more than that. Whatever your sin is, it isn’t too big. It isn’t too much. It isn’t too hard. God has healing waiting for you if you’ll repent.

James 5 holds a little nugget of truth that proves incredibly helpful in the battle against habitual sin. Verses 15 and 16 say, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” 

Prayer plays a huge role in this battle over sin - it has the power to save the sick, forgive sins and heal people! But there’s another key here that I don’t want you to miss. It’s not the sinner who prays the powerful prayer here. It’s his friend. Because the prayer of faith is so powerful, confess your sins TO ONE ANOTHER that you may pray for each other and be healed. Confession of sin to each other is not something that we practice regularly these days. We know that usually the Catholics go to confession but as non-Catholics, we leave that confession thing to them and we go on about our business. While it’s true that each of us can approach the throne of grace with confidence, not needing an intermediary to intercede for us (Hebrews 4:16), James tells us that there is a benefit to us when we confess our sins to each other. If you’re stuck in a sin habit, wrestling with the same old sin over and over and seemingly unable to get out, find a trusted friend that you can talk to. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that if you need someone you can trust, I’m always available for you and I’d be honored to pray for your healing.

Sanctification

This whole process of sin-confession-repentance-restoration can be summed up in one word - sanctification. Every day you and I are being sanctified, which is a fancy way of saying we are being made holy. When Jesus was nearing the end of his earthly ministry, he prayed for his followers, including us! In John 17:17 he prayed “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Once we’ve made our initial confession of Christ as Lord, confessing and repenting of our sin, God begins the process of sanctifying us through His Word, which is truth. His Word starts with the Old Testament and the Law, which shows us our sin and our need for a Savior. Then the Savior comes and the New Testament shows us how to follow Him. 

Why does he even bother with all of this? It seems like an awful lot of work, all this sanctification business! The answer is found in this same passage in John where Jesus is praying for his disciples and for us. Check out John 17:20-26. The first reason he sanctifies us is so that people will believe that he is the Messiah, sent from God the Father (verse 21). The second reason here is because he wants us to be WITH Him where He is (verse 24). He wants us to know Him, believe Him and be with Him. This is the whole point of the Gospel. As if that weren’t enough, Acts 3:19 gives us one more reason to repent - that times of refreshing will come! God doesn’t want us to live a miserable, sin-filled life. He has healing and refreshment for us!

Obedience when We’Re stuck in Sin

Remember at the beginning when I gave away the punch line before the lesson? How can we obey when we’re stuck in sin? We have to repent. The thing is, we can’t move on until we do. An unrepentant Christ-follower is no Christ-follower at all because Christ leads us to repentance. So if you have sin in your life that you have not repented from, you’ll be stuck until you repent. If it seems like too much or too big or too horrible, don’t worry. It’s not. Confess that sin to Him, confess it to a friend too and watch as He leads you to places you’d never dream of on your own. But remember, he won’t do that if you’re wallowing in the muck of the pigpen, refusing to repent from your sin. Trust Him to forgive you! Trust Him to bring healing to you and welcome you back, throwing a party in your honor. Remember, God loves to find lost people!

Never Alone: "Yes, Lord" When I'm Lonely

“Yes, Lord” When I’m Lonely

With seven people and a dog occupying our house, I quite often look for ways to get a few minutes of peace and quiet. There are several places in my house that I go to be alone. Sometimes it’s the bathroom. But the little fingers always find their way under the door, so that’s no real escape. I discovered that if I leave the lights off in Ben’s room and go sit in the rocking chair, most of the time the kids don’t think to look for me there. I remember when I told Chris the news that I was pregnant with Ben, there was a person in every single room in my house, so I called him out to the garage to break the news because that was the only private space! Alone time is something I treasure in this wild season of raising young children. But I know there’s truth in the saying “One day you’ll miss this.” 

Loneliness rarely has much to do with the number of people around us. 

Maybe you are in a house filled with people, feeling incredibly alone. Maybe you’re surrounded by people at work, but you still feel lonely. You might even have a great church family and still feel all alone. Or maybe the opposite is true for you. Maybe you are literally alone most of the time and the loneliness seems too much to bear. 

I’m willing to bet that most of us know the truth - we are never alone. The simple fact that God is omnipresent means that He is always with us. His name, Immanuel literally means “God with us”. He is with us. But despite the reality that we are never alone, the feeling that loneliness brings is something that each of us has experienced at one point or another. So when that feeling of loneliness creeps in, when it lingers in our heads and chips away at our spirits, how can we faithfully obey God? How can we say “Yes, Lord” when we feel all alone? Let’s look at some Scripture.

“Good” and “Not so Good”

Think back to the days of Creation recorded in Genesis 1. 

Day One: God created light and separated it from darkness.

Day Two: God created the heavens.

Day Three: God created the land and gathered the oceans. God created plants.

Day Four: God created the sun and the moon and the stars.

Day Five: God created the birds and sea animals.

Day Six: God created land animals and man.

Day Seven: God rested.

After each day of creation, God looked at what he had made and saw that it was good. But Genesis 2:18 says that after God created Adam, he saw that it was not good for him to be alone! So he made a helper suitable for him, which was Eve. This is the first time in Scripture that we see that it is not good for man to be alone. Let’s look at Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Two are better than one! God designed us to live in community with each other. 

But sometimes we’re still lonely.

A Wider Perspective of Eternity - “with”

We’re not going to look very long at any one teaching of Jesus or any one major event in his life where he specifically addresses loneliness. No, for this lesson we need to step back and look at the overall picture of eternity and the role that Jesus plays in it. We’re going to go to the Gospel of John to broaden our perspectives a bit today. In John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” A few verses later in John 1:14 we read that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” “The Word” there is God in the person of Jesus Christ. He was with God in the beginning and then he put on skin and came and stayed with us a while. 

He didn’t have to do that, you know. God could’ve chosen to stay in heaven while we fumbled around on earth, bound for eternal separation from him in hell. But a few chapters later, John 3:16 tells us that God loved us so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Do you know where eternal life happens? With God. He loves us so much that he wants us to be with Him forever. So He came to earth as Jesus to be with us on earth so that He could be with us in Heaven later and for eternity. This is a God who really really really wants to be with us. It's not about where we are when we're with Him - here on earth or in heaven - the point is, He really wants to be with us, no matter where we are!

If you keep reading in John, you’ll see stories about when Jesus called his twelve disciples to follow Him, to walk with Him during His ministry years. You’ll see Him with lots of different people: family, friends, strangers, sinners. He is with them performing miracles and teaching and healing and changing lives. In John 19:25-26 we read that Jesus was with his mother and several other followers as he hung on the cross that day. Of course we also know that when he rose from the dead, he appeared several times to his followers and disciples because he wanted to be with them and show himself to them. Our God is Immanuel, “God with us”.

I really believe that our heads understand this. We know that the Bible teaches that God is with us and we know that as believers, we have the Holy Spirit abiding in us so we are literally never alone. But let’s dig even deeper. Let’s go to the uncomfortable place, the place where we don’t like to admit we’ve been or the place where we don’t want to admit we are now.

Loneliness from Loss

Loneliness almost always comes from loss. Some of us have lost husbands through death or divorce. Some of us have left a home that we loved and moved to a new town. Some of us have battled miscarriage and infertility. Some of us have prodigal children. For some of us, our loss comes because we had hopes and dreams that haven’t been fulfilled - we grieve the loss of what we had hoped for. Think for a moment about what loss you’ve experienced in your life. Can you see any relationship between that loss and any sense of loneliness you feel? 

I grew up an Air Force brat. We had lived in eight places by the time I graduated from high school. I suffered a big loss with our last move from Virginia to San Antonio. I missed my friends and my school and my home. I started my tenth grade year at Judson High School, which at the time was the second largest high school in the state of Texas. There were times I had to ride a bus just to change classes. I had met a handful of people at church that summer, but I didn’t see them often and I was so lonely. Every day I would sit outside in the courtyard and eat my lunch by myself because I was scared to death to go in the cafeteria. One day a boy from church came and talked to me at the end of the lunch period. I didn’t feel quite so alone. He came back the next day and the next and the next. He didn’t have any ulterior motives. He didn’t try to get me to change. He just came and talked to me. His friendship meant the world to me because God used him to show me that I was not as alone as I felt. No surprise that this guy is now a missionary in Bulgaria. I will always and forever be thankful for Stephen because he stood with me when I was lonely. 

I’ve used this example countless times with teenagers to remind them of the importance of standing with their lonely friends and peers at school. But it’s a good lesson for us as women too. Look out for the lonely ones. See who sits alone. See who might just need someone to talk to to feel less alone. Be that person for someone else. Sometimes, we get the opportunity to be with someone in the same way that God is with us. The ministry of presence is a very important ministry.

What Do I Do?

Now lets talk about what to do with this loneliness. Let’s talk about how to have a “Yes, Lord” attitude in the middle of it.

CHOOSE TO REJECT THE LIES OF SATAN.

1. There is something wrong with me.

Psalm 139 tells us that God created you in your mother’s womb and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You were created in the image of God for a purpose. There is nothing wrong with how He made you.

1. I don’t deserve love. 

God loves you so much that He sent His son for you! Romans 8 tells us that there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Nothing!

1. I cannot change my situation.

The fruit of the Spirit is in you if you are a believer. Because you have fruits like patience and self control and love, you absolutely can change your situation by making different choices and choosing different responses.

CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE.

1. There is something wrong with me. 

Romans 3:23 - Yep, there’s something wrong with you and it’s called SIN. Sin separates us from a holy God so we have to repent (turn away) from our sin and walk toward God. Sin is ugly and will choke the life out of you if you don’t repent.

1. I don’t deserve love.

Romans 6:23 - Yep, you do not deserve the love He offers. In fact, there’s not a single thing that you can do to earn His love or His grace or His favor. He offers it freely, even when what we deserve is death.

1. I cannot change my situation.

Philippians 2:12-13 - It’s true, you can’t change your situation. But God can. We obey but it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure.

A Chosen One

Let’s look back to the Old Testament for some truth about who we are. Check out Isaiah 43. This passage of Scripture was given to the Israelites while they were in exile in Babylon. They had been scattered across the land and things looked pretty grim to them. This is not how you would expect God’s chosen people to live. So He has some absolutely beautiful words for them here in Isaiah 43. Now the cool part is that according to 1 Peter 2:9-10, we are now the chosen ones. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a chosen one. I’m not going to delve into the doctrine of election or start a debate on predestination, but I will say that as believers, we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. The words that God gave Isaiah for the children of Israel are words that we can take to heart and apply to ourselves as believers.

Read Isaiah 43:1-21.

These are God’s Words to you. He is with you. What a precious promise!

Consider Your Ways! "Yes, Lord" When I'm Busy

Let's start right off with a bit of a self-evaluation. Think in terms of "too much", "not enough" or "just right". How much time do you spend doing the following activities each day? 

Driving

Watching TV

Social Media

Working

Exercising

Sleeping

Spending Quality Time with Your Kids

Spending Quality Time with Your Husband

Attending Your Kids’ Games or Activities

Reading the Bible

Praying

Being Still Before the Lord

Doing an Activity you find Relaxing

Other Activities

This whole idea of busyness isn’t a new concept. You’re probably busier than you need to be and you probably already knew that, right? Jesus was never portrayed in Scripture as being in a hurry. Isn’t that amazing? Scripture never refers to Jesus as rushing anywhere or running late or not having time to do something he wanted to do. Now, he was human, so it's probable that he found himself busy at times, but the stories recorded in Scripture for us depict him taking his time as he went from place to place and person to person. Not only that, but Jesus had a few choice words to say about the busyness of one of his dearest friends. You’ve probably heard the story of Mary and Martha before. It’s in Luke 10:38-42. 

Jesus visits Mary and Martha

The first thing Martha did was invite Jesus into her home. This was a great thing! She opened her home to the Savior and invited him in. No criticism there, Martha. The second thing Scripture tells us here is that Martha was distracted with her serving. No doubt there was a  lot to get done. We’ve all been in the position of hostess and we like to make sure everything is taken care of and ready for our guests. There’s nothing wrong with that. The harm came when Martha became distracted by her service. She forgot to stop and sit and spend time with her guest because she was so busy serving. Uh-oh, Martha. Jesus quickly put her in her place, reminding her that Mary’s choice to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen was the better choice.

So what else does the Bible have to say about busyness? Is there anything else to add to this teaching of Jesus here in Martha’s home? Oh, you know there is!

Busy with Your own House

Look at Haggai 1:3-9. It was time for God’s people to rebuild the temple. They really didn’t want to, but the prophet, Haggai, delivered a message from the Lord instructing them to get started. If ever there was a group of busy people, this is it. They’ve been working and eating and drinking and trying to survive and it just seems like they’re spinning their wheels because despite all of their hard work, they never have enough. Haggai reveals to them the reason that their labor isn’t producing any good fruit. It’s because the house of the Lord lies in ruins while everyone is running around being busy with their own houses. Their priorities were a bit twisted, thinking that their own homes were more important than the house of God.

Let’s take the advice offered in Haggai 1:7 and consider our ways. Are we like Matha, so busy with working for the Lord that we forget to stop and linger in his presence? Or are we like the Israelites, spending more time on the business of our own homes while there is Kingdom work to do? Neither of these options are God’s best for our schedules or our lives.

It’s all about Perspective

In the next few months, FBC Gonzales is going to begin a season of studying our purpose as individuals and as a church. We’re going to use the book, “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren to explore our purposes here on earth. If you haven’t read that book, I highly recommend it, even if you don’t feel like you struggle with knowing your purpose. The first line of this book is simultaneously simple and mind-blowing. “It’s not about you.” This whole life is not about you. It’s not about me. Yet somehow, we have gotten it absolutely backwards. We operate our day-to-day lives as if this life is all about me and you and our kids and our husbands. It’s time for a shift in our perspective.

In his book, Rick Warren gives us five purposes for living here on earth: 

      •    Purpose #1: You Were Planned for God's Pleasure (Worship)

• Purpose #2: You Were Formed for God's Family (Fellowship)

• Purpose #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ (Discipleship)

• Purpose #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God (Ministry)

• Purpose #5: You Were Made for a Mission (Mission)

You can tell a lot about a woman by looking at her schedule. Her schedule speaks volumes.

If you can look at your schedule, no matter what activities fill it, and find that your daily life focuses on worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and mission, chances are you’re in a good place. But if your schedule reflects a different set of priorities, it’s time for an evaluation and a change. 

What is your “Thing?”

Each of us has at least one particular “thing” that typically dominates our schedules. For some of you it’s all about your kids! Their athletics - practices, games, tournaments, lessons. Maybe they’re into 4-H and stock show. Maybe your family is big on academics. For others of you, your “thing” may be your job or social activities, or reading, or watching tv or social media. Your “thing” may be that you are a caregiver or you are responsible for something or someone on a full-time basis. You know what your “thing” is. It’s the “thing” you spend most of your time doing. 

This won't come as a shock to anyone that know me, but my "thing" is CHURCH MINISTRY. My family doesn’t participate in many sports and we sure don’t show animals. We value academics and we definitely spend too much time watching TV and playing on Facebook. But our “thing” is church. We are here just about every time the doors are open and usually when they aren’t. Our Sunday starts with us arriving to church around 7:45 am and we don’t usually get home until 12:30. We go back on Sunday evenings for meetings and practices and Bible Study and prayer time, so we’re usually at church for around 8 hours each Sunday. Wednesdays are starting to look pretty similar. Bible Study has me here by 8 every Wednesday morning and I don’t usually get home until 11:30 or so. We’re back up here for our evening activities for several more hours each Wednesday evening. Then throw in things like Ladies Retreat or our Men’s Campout or baby showers or Valentine’s banquets or conferences and we are doing church ministry all the time. When we aren’t AT church, we’re talking about church or working on Bible studies or writing sermons or talking on the phone or texting with church members. It’s pretty much a 24/7 gig at the Irving house. And we LOVE it. 

But sometimes it can be a problem if we forget that our purpose in it is not about US. It’s not about making us look good or making our church look good. It’s not about numbers or attendance or money. It’s not about the number of activities we can be involved in. It’s about worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and mission. It’s about bringing God glory in all of those things and through our obedience to Him in what we allow into our lives. Sometimes, my perspective is right on. I’m doing it all for the Lord and for His glory. Other times though, my perspective shifts and I begin to do “church ministry” for all the wrong reasons. I take something that is good and turn it into an idol when it becomes more important than Him.

So think about what your “thing” is. 

You can do that thing for God’s glory. 

You can do that thing as an act of worship or to fellowship with other believers. 

You can do that thing to make disciples. 

You can do that thing to minister to others and share the good news of the gospel. 

OR

You can do that thing to make your name great. 

You can do that thing to advance yourself or your kids. 

You can do that thing so that you feel like you’re living the American dream. 

You can do that thing because everybody else is doing it and you wouldn’t want to be left out. 

You can turn that good thing into an idol too. 

You can do your “thing” for all the right reasons or all the wrong reasons.

Bad Busy vs. Good Busy

So the conclusion I’ve come to is this: There are Two Ways to be Busy

1. Bad Busy - When your schedule reflects priorities that focus on you.
2. Good Busy - When your schedule reflects priorities that focus on Him.

Instructions for women

Let’s look at Titus 2:3-5. Here Paul is writing to Titus with instructions for the older men and women in the church. In verse 5 he tells Titus that the older women need to train the younger women how to “work at home” or “be busy at home”. It’s odd that in Haggai and in Luke, we are instructed that busyness is NOT a virtue, but here in Titus, it seems that busyness at home is a good thing.

So let’s keep looking at Scripture until we understand. Head over to Proverbs 31. If anyone in Scripture can shine some light on busyness, it’s this Proverbs 31 lady, this wife of noble character. Check out all the things she does:

She finds supplies and works with her hands. She cooks for her family, even getting up before sunrise to do it. She makes big purchases and isn’t afraid of manual labor. She stays up late and gets up early. She sews clothing and bed coverings for her family. She ministers to the poor and needy. She makes all the clothes for her family and sells what she makes for profit. She shows strength and dignity and wisdom and kindness. This lady sounds pretty busy to me! And oddly enough, here in Proverbs, this busyness sounds like a good thing!

Busyness at home is a good thing for us. The world wants us to be busy outside of the home. The world tells us to climb the corporate ladder and shatter the glass ceiling. The world tells us to get our kids involved in every possible activity outside the home that we can. God tells us to be busy at home. Does that mean that women working is wrong? Or activities outside the home are not godly? Definitely not. But if we neglect our homes because of these things, we are in the wrong. We are not living the kind of life God has for us. God makes it very clear in Scripture that our priority as women should be our homes. Our husbands. Our children. Our homes.

Practical Instructions for Busy Women

So what can you do if you know your schedule is too busy? These simple instructions are not just important for you, but for your kids. The schedule you allow your kids to keep is the message you are sending to them about their purpose. 

1.    Just say NO. 

Remember our verse, Isaiah 26:8? After the “Yes, Lord” part that we know so well, it says “walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you.” Too often, we barrel right ahead with our plans, not even considering God’s plan for our lives. Sometimes we need to wait for Him. Not every good thing is the best thing for you or your family. Don’t be afraid to back out of things you’ve already committed to when you realize those things are not being used for God’s glory.

2.   Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. 

Read Exodus 20:8-11. For some reason this is one of the Ten Commandments that we don’t take as seriously as the others. God rested from His work of creation on the seventh day and we are commanded to do the same. Anything less is a sin. If you are running from one activity to the next and those activities have encroached upon your day of rest, it is time to change your schedule. 

3.   Practice stillness. Read Psalm 46:10. Carve out time in your day each day to practice being still in the presence of God. This is a discipline that He wants His children to have. Meditating on a verse like this helps us to fix our perspectives on the right things- his exaltation among the nations and over all the earth.

4.    Make your home your priority.

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It is our responsibility as mothers to teach our children to love the Lord with all their hearts. What does that love look like? Obedience. We must teach our children to love the Lord by focusing their lives around the glory of His name, not the glory of their own names. As Jesus-followers, our schedules should reflect that we prioritize our homes.

Obeying God when you’re busy is a complicated task. It takes some intentional self-examination and may require some tough decisions. But those hard things are so worth it when we get our perspective fixed to line up with God’s perspective. When we remember that this life is not about us, but all about Him, the task of simplifying our schedules becomes a joy and a privilege instead of a dreaded burden. 

Father, help us to honor you with our schedules.