Flesh

I've been kept from writing for a few reasons and it's a short post I have today but the principle is one I'm sure will help everybody.

I try to be asleep between 11 and 11:30. It doesn't always work out but I'm getting to the point where going to sleep at the right time is more important than everything I can accomplish while my son is asleep.
The reason I *try* to go to sleep at 11 is that I want to get up at 7 so that I can spend a few quiet hours to myself before chasing around my three year old. I need eight hours of sleep. I will not get up at 7 if I go to bed at 1. It just won't happen. My son used to nap for 3-4 hours a day so my bedtime wasn't important. He doesn't nap at all now so I have to be more rigid in my schedule.

Going to bed at 11 and waking up at 7 is the right thing to do for me. It's not just physically good for me but spiritually. If I don't get up early and spend time with God, I won't do it the rest of the day. There's no time to. The other thing is that I am more likely to get things done, pay good attention to my son, and have the energy I need to make the right choices when I have my alone time.
I get very VERY grumpy, impatient, and volatile when I don't have my quiet time. I know that sounds spoiled and selfish.
As I've taken the time to discipline myself and manage my time wisely, I've learned that the time I spend with God in the morning is always affected by the choices I make the night before.
So first there's the discipline of going to sleep at the right time. It's not easy but I've learned the value of it.
Then there's the discipline of what I do before going to sleep.

The more fleshly I am at night, the less likely I am to get up in the morning.
The whole 'one more' thing is really detrimental to my relationship with God.
While I may be in bed by 11, I find myself getting sucked into my phone watching debates on Youtube, scrolling through Pinterest, Twitter, or just blogs and news sites I like to read. I tell myself 'one more video, one more minute, one more article' and it's never just one more and I wind up sleeping between 11:30 and 12 or later because I can't shut my mind off.
I always, without fail, end up sleeping later and it's harder for me to get up in the morning. What's more, my attitude toward getting up isn't right because I filled up on flesh the night before and it didn't go away with sleep.
I didn't fight my flesh when I was in the right position to so I pay for it dearly the next day and have to fight it off twice as hard.
I hope this is making sense.

In all this experience and learning of a very simple principle, I was reminded of a sermon I first listened to almost five years ago called Royal Blunders.
First off, it takes place in one of the most interesting passages of scripture- 1 Kings.
Second, it involves one of my favourite biblical events: reading about God surrounded by the host of heaven and deciding how to deal with wicked Ahab.
Third, and most importantly, the preacher, Dilbert Terry, talks about the snares of the flesh.

Our flesh traps us in so many ways- whether it be fatigue, laziness, deception or anything else. This sermon really taught me the value of cutting my flesh off at the pass. He talks about simple mistakes two kings- Ahab and Jehoshaphat make that we can learn from, as Christians.
It's practical knowledge and you'll definitely benefit if you listen to it.
I learned a lot from it the first time I heard it. They're principles that have shaped my thoughts and magnified my understanding of the flesh.
One of the best things he says is that whenever we give in to our flesh it fights back twice as hard the next time.
It's true. I've seen it in my own life with big things and small things.
If I give in to my flesh to stay up later than I should, it fights me twice as hard to stay in bed in the morning.

A few other things he says in it are: 'because he's a liar he listens to liars' referring to Ahab.
'Men like Joel Osteen are God's judgment on people who want the goodness of God without God.'
Tough.
'What God has separated let no man put together'.
You can't truly love God without hating what He hates.

I listened to the sermon again today to refresh my memories of it. It's interesting how I was once eating it up because I needed the food it provided so badly and now I've eaten it, digested it, and it's part of who I am.

You see, the more you work on your relationship with God, the more you say 'yes' to Him and 'no' to your flesh, the less leeway you have to sin.
It's no longer worth it to me to watch a questionable TV show because it puts bad things in my mind and separates me from God. I feel that separation too keenly and I don't like it. My husband and I are clearing out all our questionable movies and we'll likely go through our books again. We just want to be close to God.

So if you're having trouble making time for God, I suggest you look at the things you are surrounding yourself by. What sins, no matter how small, do you allow yourself?

Sin never leave you better than it finds you (Gary Boyatt).
Remember that.

Worship

The other day I posted a link to a sermon which I said exposed an error in my thinking. (You can find the post here)

As often happens, God had been working on me about it for quite some time before He gave me the answer.

Probably a month or more ago we were going through the biblical reasons for doing devotions in our Wednesday night service. My pastor would often ask, 'how is your relationship with the bible?' or 'have you spent time in the bible?'

My answers were always in the affirmative- I have a set time to get up and do devotions, I try to make bible reading my first priority, and I was studying the scripture in depth. I was 'almost flawless' in this area of my relationship with God- or so I thought.

I have to laugh at myself now because God uses those questions and our internal answers to show us our errors and fix our thinking. It reminds me of Peter Ruckman saying, 'people tell me I take that bible too seriously. I don't take that bible seriously enough'. No matter how much you're in the bible, no matter how strongly you believe it,  you will never have the Word in the exact right spot it needs to be in your life.

Well, Christmas started happening, we started looking for a place to move, we found a place and did move and, as always happens, I started slipping from my set time of bible reading. I still read the bible, but since I had missed my only opportunity for quiet time it was not as thorough and maybe even rushed- thrown in when I could.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he

standeth take heed lest he fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12

As I struggled to get up in the morning I began to wonder about devotions.

There's no question that they're a necessary part of a Christian's walk with God. We need the bible to cleanse us, feed us, and guide us; we need prayer to relieve us, communicate with God, and thank Him for all He's done. Before all that, though, why do we do devotions?
The first answer must be that it is commanded:

Study to shew thyself approved unto 

God, a workman that needeth not to be

ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

All scripture is given by inspiration of

God, and is profitable for doctrine, for

reproof, for correction, for instruction in

righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect,

throughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:16&17

Till I come, give attendance to reading,

to exhortation, to doctrine.

1 Timothy 4:13

Praying always with all prayer and

supplication in the Spirit, and watching

thereunto with all perseverance and

supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:18

As newborn babes, desire the sincere

milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

1 Peter 2:2

We study for reproof and correction- to change our ways to please Him, we study to perfect our doctrine- to teach others and be unified in the Spirit, we study to be perfect- the 'more you're get in the bible, the more it gets in you'. 

I know these things, I've long known these verses, I grew up singing

Don't read your bible, forget to pray and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink

BUT!

Read your bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow

and I believe all of it.

I began to wonder about the command and what is at the heart of the command.

The truth is, it should not matter what is at the heart of the command of an omniscient and holy God. The commandment is right, good, and needs to be obeyed. Even so, I began to wonder about it.

As I thought on these things I managed to get up one morning and do devotions. After I finished praying I was very happy and it occurred to me that maybe I was doing devotions so that I would 'feel good'.

I believe I had gotten to the point where I was doing devotions like I was giving change to a homeless person- something 'good' I did to keep me from 'feeling bad' I did not do it.
The other thing that began to happen was that I would do my devotions in the morning, and though I'd pray throughout the day, I would sort of leave off the Word and maybe listen to a sermon but I'd get focused on other things. Morning bible reading became something akin to drinking kombucha in the morning- the only time of the day it would happen because that's what I did in the morning.
I began to wonder what it was in me that was keeping me from being faithful and putting God absolutely first.

I listened to David Peacock's Clean Inside sermon and God used it to tell me what my problem was.
My problem is worship, or rather, who I was worshipping.
See, I was worshipping myself and, even though my devotions on the surface were about God, I was doing them in worship to myself.
The issue went deeper than 'checking it off my daily to do list', it was the fact that I was only seeking God's word for myself, not for Him.
The way I was doing devotions had become one of the fruits of a greater sin problem- placing myself on the throne of my life. As a servant of God, I have no business being on the throne of anything- especially not my own life.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the

mercies of God that ye present your bodies

a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,

which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1

For the love of Christ constraineth us;

because we thus judge, that if one died for

all, then were all dead:

and that he died for all, that they which

live should not henceforth live unto

themselves, but unto him which died for

them, and rose again.

2 Corinthians 5:14&15

My life, and if you're saved your life, is not about you. It's about God.

I lost sight of that in everything I was doing.

To the sermon- Pastor Peacock pointed out the following and gave the following example:

The first time worship is mentioned in the bible it is connected to obedience. The greatest form of worship is obedience:

And it came to pass after these things,

that God did tempt Abraham, and said

unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold,

here I am.

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only

son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee

into the land of Moriah; and offer him

there for a burnt offering upon one of the

mountains which I will tell thee of.

ANd Abraham rose up early in the

morning and saddled his ass, and took two

of his young men with him, and Isaac his

son, and clave the wood for the burnt

offering, and rose up, and went unto the

place of which God had told him.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted up

his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said unto his young me,

Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the

lad will go yonder and worship, and come

again to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt

offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and

he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;

and they went both of them together.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father,

and said, My father: and he said, Here am I,

my son. And he said, Behold the fire and

the wood: but where is the lamb for a

burnt offering?

And Abraham said, My son, God will

provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:

so they went both of them together.

And they came to the place which God

had told him of; and Abraham built an

altar there, and laid the wood in order, and

bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the

altar upon the wood.

And Abraham stretched froth his hand;

and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the LORD called unto

him out of heaven, and said, Abraham,

Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

And he said, Lay not think hand upon

the lad, neither do thou any thing unto

him: for now I know that thou fearest God,

seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,

thine only son from me.

Genesis 22:1-12

Pastor Peacock said that worshipping God is about obeying Him in the smallest of details and yielding your will to His- it's not about the command, it's whether you obey.
Worshipping God is living for His pleasure, not your pleasure and choosing Him before you choose yourself.

The way they worshipped God in the Old Testament is the way we worship now: sacrifice.

While they sacrificed the best of their livestock, we sacrifice our lives. They sacrificed to take away their sins, Christ sacrificed Himself once and for all for all who believe, and we sacrifice our will daily to keep ourselves out of sin. My pastor often says this- if we're busy doing the right things we won't have time to do the wrong things.

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as

great delight in burnt offerings and

sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the

LORD? Behold, to obey is better than

sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of

rams.

1 Samuel 15:22

I won't go into this account of Saul's disobedience that lost him the kingdom (read it in 1 Samuel 15). Even though Saul had spared 'the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God;' (verse 15) it did not account for anything with God because Saul did not obey God's commandment ('now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not...' verse 3).

God would have gotten glory if Saul had obeyed every word, God got no glory because Saul thought better of the command. Pastor Peacock said this, '1% hesitation is %100 rebellion'. That's a hard saying but it's true.

So the question is, do you love Him more than you love yourself, is He on the throne or are you on the throne?

We will never be able to properly worship God if He does not occupy the throne of our lives. We can't share the throne with God: it's either Him or you. Pastor Peacock pointed out: God desires from us the only thing He can't give Himself: worship.

Back to devotions- most, if not all, of God's commandments are for our good.. Devotions, while they glorify Him, they are necessary for a close walk with God, to cleanse us, and keep us from sin.

I'm not really drawn to what's good for me (I will drink mocha frappucinos and eat poutine all day every day if I had no control over myself) so I falter very easily.

When I falter I can now remind myself that it's not just that devotions are good for me, necessary for walking with God, and the right thing to do. Getting up early, reading what God wants me to read, praying- that is what God wants me to do and obeying Him is worshipping Him.

No longer are my devotions for myself, they are in worship. Sacrificing my flesh to obey Him.

Rules For a Spiritual Life

My recent post 'Rules For Life' contained rules I *try* to abide by to keep myself from getting into too much trouble with people here on earth.
What's way more important is my relationship with God.
This post, I want to share some of the things I do to keep myself walking with God in the Spirit.
As long as I am walking with God, I am effortlessly able to keep myself from unnecessary trouble and maintain all my personal rules.

1) Read your bible and pray everyday.
This is a no brainer. Everyone knows you cannot have a relationship with someone without talking and listening to them. A relationship with God is the same way- reading your bible is reading His Word, praying is talking to Him. Yes He knows everything, but He wants us to talk to Him about it. Praying strengthens you in ways you'll never know until you start making a decisive effort to bend your knees and pray.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is

written, That man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word of God.

Luke 4:4

That's not hard to understand: we need the Word of God to live.

As newborn babes, desire the sincere

milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

1 Peter 2:2

We need it to grow. The more you read it, the more you desire it, the more you grow. Nothing bad comes out of reading God's Word.

This is something, my pastor's wife's father pointed out-

And it came to pass in those days, that

he went out into a mountain to pray, and

continued all night in prayer to God.

Luke 16:12

Jesus found praying more comforting than sleep! That is our example! If you are a Christian that does not think it's necessary to set time aside for prayer, there's something wrong.

2) Study your bible.

Reading is great! It is great for a baby Christian, it is great when your mind is tired, it is great to read as a family, but an older Christian needs strong meat. Strong meat comes from studying.

For when for the time ye ought to be

teachers, ye have need that one teach you

again which be the first principles of the

oracles of God; and are become such as

have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

For everyone that useth milk is unskillful

in the word of righteousness: for he is a

babe.

But strong meat belongeth to them that

are of full age, even those who by reason of

use have their senses exercised to discern

both good and evil.

Hebrews 5:12-14

Studying the bible means cross referencing, line upon line, comparing spiritual things with spiritual to find out what the bible really says. Something Paul may write two lines about in Ephesians may be given a full chapter in Romans.

In 1 Peter it says, 'for charity shall cover the multitude of sins', you wouldn't know the depth of what charity is unless you read about it in 1 Corinthians 13.

Lastly, and most importantly, God tells us to study:

Study to shew thyself approved unto

God, a workman that needeth not to be

ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

3) Apply what you've learned

Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

But ye, brethren, be not weary in well

doing.

And if any man obey not our word by

this epistle, note that man, and have no

company with him, that he may be

ashamed.

2 Thessalonians 3:14

But be ye doers of the word, and not

hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and

not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding

his natural face in a glass:

For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his

way, and straightway forgetteth what

manner of man he was.

James 1:22-24

Those are just a few verses of many that talk about obedience, submission, and following after God.

The fact is, you cannot grow if you refuse to apply what you've learned. The more you exercise self control, the more 'natural' it becomes.

Tools to help with the three things above:

1- Set a specific time to read, study, and pray

You will not do it if you leave it up to 'if I have time'. You'll never have time. You'll keep coming up with things to do.

Get up early and do your devotions. If you can't, set aside a specific time during the day to study.

You must come to the realization that your relationship with God is THE priority in your life. If you have your relationship with God straight, all other areas of your life fall into order. My life is a testament to this; my pastor, pastor's I've listened to on this internet have preached on this.

2-Write down prayer requests and collect missionary prayer cards

I have a little book I write down prayer requests in and I get a hold of as many missionary prayer cards as I can. This helps me put thought and effort into praying for others. If I don't write it down I will forget. I've noticed too, if I'm not particularly interested in praying, I can't help but pray more and more because of all the requests given to me. I am constrained to pray about all of them. Make it a particular priority to pray for each request that comes up.

Praying always with all prayer and

supplication in the Spirit, and watching

thereunto with all perseverance and

supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:18

Confess your faults one to another, and

pray one for another, that ye may be

healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a

righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16

Those verses say it all.

3- Fast

This is actually a whole blog post in one point- one I do intend to write. For now, suffice it to say that fasting helps teach you to control your flesh. A great chapter on fasting is Isaiah 58. Here is a bit of it:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to

loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the

heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go

free, and that ye break every yoke?

Isaiah 58:6

Notice what fasting does: loose bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens (are you hurting about something? fast), let the oppressed go free, break every yoke- fasting liberates us and builds our relationship with God.

4-Listen to sermons

I have learned so much from listening to sermons while doing chores, knitting, and so on. I've learned how to pray from hearing preachers pray, I've been reminded of hymns I once knew, I've been reproved, rebuked, exhorted, edified, strengthened, and blessed through preaching. If nothing else, it keeps my mind from wandering to places it should not.

5-Sing praises

If you're wondering how to make melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19), this is how. I take time, ideally every day but that hasn't been possible lately, to sing songs to God. Sometimes I go through a hymn book, sometimes I sing scripture songs, but I make sure to listen to what I'm singing and mean it. I find that at least one of the songs I sing remains in my head the rest of the day or through the week.

If you think this isn't important then you haven't read the book of Psalms at all.

Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto

the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy

endureth for ever.

Psalm 106:1

6-Memorize scripture

Knowing scripture will get you through every situation you will come across. The first year of my marriage I memorized Proverbs 31:10-31. I intend to be a virtuous woman and that passage has it all. I quote it to myself a lot because sometimes I really need to remember it.

I've quoted scripture to myself during scary situations in doctor's offices and hospitals, when I have trouble sleeping, and when I don't know what to think.
When I was in labour and my contractions were getting unbearable I would close my eyes and quote Proverbs 31. The pain was still there but it kept me from going crazy.
The more you read the bible the more you will know it the more it will come up every day.

Don't underestimate the power of knowing scripture. 

7-Go To Church

This isn't just a Sunday thing, it's a Wednesday thing, and every other time there is an activity or service at church.

Fellowship helps keep you faithful. If you don't believe me, stay away from church for a month and see what that does to your relationship with God. There is a lot you cannot control at church, and that is a good thing. To be exposed to preaching that God gave a preacher to preach to you is special. Not only that, there are people there willing to pray for you. Prayer is powerful and we all need as much of it as we can get.

There has been many times I have not felt like going to church but I've gone and never regretted it. God gave church to us for our benefit and His glory. Don't shun it.

BEWARE!!! If you find yourself too tired or busy to have personal time with God because you're too involved with church, cut down your church activities. It is very easy to go through the motions and look spiritual when you are actively involved at church but if you don't have a relationship with God that goes before those things, your work is dead. Being faithful to God and being faithful to church are two separate things.


I hope this was a help to you in some way!

Salvation and Submission- My Personal Testimony

My posts have been fewer and further in between nowadays. I wish it wasn't the case but it's been busy around my home. Maybe not so much busy as much as my husband has been working a lot so I've had more to do around home.
It's been almost a year since my husband started the job he currently has. We've been going and going for a whole year and now we're tired and really need a vacation.
I find myself listless and disinterested. Everything I love to do I don't have the energy and mind power to do it. It may also be the heat, but I really think I'm just tired and would really like a break.

I am a Junior Church teacher. It's like nursery time only more structured. I have children 2-4 years old and the 4 year olds will be moving into the main service when they are five.
Every Sunday, before the evening service, my pastor meets with all the teachers in the church. He's asked us to share our personal testimony, specifically when we submitted to serving the Lord, in the upcoming meetings. The purpose of this, is so that we can see the Lord's work in each other's lives and so that the children we are teaching can learn, grow, and realize that God is real to their teachers.

I've been thinking about it and I thought I'd share it on here:

I was saved as a very young child. I was probably 5 or 6 years old. I don't remember my age but I have clear and certain memories of the night of my salvation.
The months prior to my salvation I remember being scared of the night. I was scared to sleep. I knew that there was a possibility that I could wake up dead. I was terrified of that.
It was a constant battle in my mind every night.
One evening my parent's had a bible study in our house. A man came and in the course of the bible study he either promoted a false doctrine or said something blasphemous.
My father does not tolerate that.
Well, an argument ensued and I remember my father demanding the man leave our house.
The situation left myself and my sister rather shaken. When dad tucked us into bed that night we asked him about the man and his errors. Our dad explained the things the man had said and told us the error of his beliefs, he then started talking about salvation.
I knew I wasn't saved and that terrified me.
I accepted the Lord as my Saviour that night.
The months of being terrified of death ended that night for good.
Praise the Lord!
So I went on, preserved by God, just living my life- going to church, doing family devotions.
For the most part I was a luke-warm Christian with strong beliefs but no action.
I knew I needed to read my bible and pray but I didn't. I knew how to live right but I just did what I wanted.
My family flitted from church to church and, for a while, we were very spiritually dead.
I grew up very independent, very proud, and very headstrong. I did whatever I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted.
My family eventually got involved with a man named Scott Line.
He preached like we had not heard before. It was actual bible preaching. We had never been fed like that in our lives. He preached hard on sin, he preached passages we'd never really heard preached on before, he preached about the God that is a consuming fire.
We had not heard stuff like that before.
Our spirit revived.
One Sunday he preached heavily against pride.
I felt the Lord's hand heavy on me that day. I remember a burning sensation in my chest. I knew I was full of pride. It was not necessarily the pride that causes you to think that you're better than everyone. It was the pride that caused me to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to. It was the pride that caused me to think I was in control of my life and that I could decide things for myself.
After the sermon I went outside and sat on the grass.
I thought about my pride. If I wanted something, I got it, if I wanted to do something I did it. I wanted what I wanted. I was self possessed.
I gave that up to God that Sunday. I apologized for my pride and I let it go.

That was when I submitted to serving the Lord. When I stopped serving myself.
I have no been perfect at it. There have been long periods since then where I've just stopped reading my bible and praying. God is faithful, though, He keeps working on me. I don't want to leave God's side. I'm never happier than when I am close to God and doing right. I don't understand how I can easily forget it sometimes and leave off serving Him.
Slowly God has stripped me of my pride. A lot of it left as I got into the Word and it worked in my life, correcting my opinion of myself, and putting me in my place. Other things, things I grew up doing, thinking, and so on had to be purged slowly, repeatedly sometimes, and systematically.
I realize now that God didn't just throw the whole book at me at once. He had to purge one thing before the next thing could go. There are things I can let go now that I couldn't even a year ago. I wasn't ready, I didn't know better, and God knew that.
If I could only express the gentleness of God.

I hope this is in some way a blessing to you.
God bless!

Devotions Part Three- What

Okay, so I've covered how and why I do devotions.
Now the question is what do I get out of it.

I sort of covered this in my last post- strengthening the New Man and making right decisions which yields fruit and wins souls.

There are many ways to study the bible- doctrinally, practically, historically, and so on.
When you study verse by verse you have to look at all those things- you're forced to.
As I began to study the Bible, God started to show me things missing in my life.

Confessing my sins was one of the very first things.
I was reading Psalm 34 one day and came across this:

The eyes of the Lord are upon the

righteous, and his ears are open unto their

cry.

The face of the Lord is against them

that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of

them from the earth.

Psalm 34:15&16

Then I was listening to a sermon series on 1 Peter and the preacher was talking of this verse:

For the eyes of the Lord are over the

righteous, and his ears are open unto their

prayers: but the face of the Lord is against

them that do evil.

1 Peter 3:12

It is clearly a quote from the Psalms but as I listened it struck a cord with me:

I need to confess my sins to God.

I need to acknowledge when I've sinned before him.

Sin is no joke.

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:

but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them

shall have mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

How about Job?

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose

name was Job; and that man was perfect

and upright, and on that feared God, and

eschewed evil.

Job 1:1

And his sons went and feasted in their 

houses, everyone his day; and sent and 

called for their three sisters to eat and to

drink with them.

And it was so when the days of their 

feasting were gone about, that Job sent and

sanctified them, and rose up early in the

morning and offered burnt offerings

according to the number of them all: for

Job said, It may be that my sons have

sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.

Thus did Job continually.

Job 1:4-5

Job was indeed a sinner but God calls him 'perfect and upright'. How is this so?

He dealt with sin the way God required him to.

Behold, the Lord's hand is not

shortened, that it cannot save; neither his

ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

but your iniquities have separated

between you and your God, and your sins

have hid his face from you, that he will not

hear.

Isaiah 59:1&2

I was led to all these verses and God showed me that I needed to confess my sins. I needed to acknowledge the wicked things in my life and forsake them.

Thanks to our merciful heavenly father, we can plead the blood of Christ and are cleansed from all sin.

The fact is, our sin nature is still very much inside us: it is impossible for us not to sin.

There are some sins you do once, learn your lesson, confess, forsake, move on. Then there are besetting sins- sins we have a very hard time controlling.

One of my besetting sins is covetousness. I find myself confessing to God about it daily. He still forgives, He knows I know, and He's working with me on it.

So you see, God used my studying, listening, reading to teach me that I need to confess my sins to Him. 

That's just one, small, inadequately explained example of how God taught me something through my study.

Remember this verse:

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh

to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and

purify your hearts, ye double minded.

James 4:8

To draw nigh to God we must first cleanse our hands of sin, and focus our hearts on him (ye cannot serve God and mammon).

As you study, read, listen, God will draw nigh to you.

As you apply the Word to your life, you'll get to know God better, and He'll teach you how to draw even closer to Him.

God is on our side. He's not mean. He has not left us to figure this whole life thing on our own.

He knows we need help. He knows we can't tell back from front and left from right.

It starts will salvation:

But now in Christ Jesus ye who

sometimes were far off are made nigh by

the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:13

From there God shows us how to get even closer to him. He purges us, cleanses us, and removes the dross.

This is an amazing blessing when you discover this and live it for yourself. To see how God cares and loves you so much that He takes time to point out things in our lives that will help us be closer to him, bear more fruit, and have more peace.

I really hope this devotion series has helped you in some way.

Take the time to read God's Word. Even if it's just a chapter a day, you will grow tremendously. God rewards those who seek His face.

Devotions Part Two- Why

Someone said that the hardest part of doing anything is getting started.

Devotions are no exception.

One thing I realized a long time ago is that devotions actually get done when you set aside a time for them. If you wait until you have time you'll never do them.

You must realize that feeding your soul, walking with in the Spirit, drawing closer to God and getting to know Jesus better are the priorities.

It is not eating breakfast, cleaning the kitchen, finishing up a project or any of those other things we use as an excuse to stay away from the Word.

As a Christian you will thrive in every area of your life if you dedicate time to study and prayer.

When you are firm with yourself, it gets easier and easier to be consistent. As you walk in the Spirit it gets easier to make the right decisions.

For example:

I do my study devotions when my son takes a nap.

I do everything when my son takes a nap.

My thoughts as soon as Bo goes down are something like this-
'I need to clean the kitchen, prep dinner, fold the laundry, throw in some laundry, make sourdough, prepare for Sunday.....
What do I do first?'
Then I go pick up my bible and do my devotions.
I spend between thirty minutes to an hour in my devotions. No matter what I have to do I always manage to get everything done.

In the past I would look at everything I had to do and just get started hoping I would have a chance to do my devotions after. I never would.
I set my heart to do my devotions as soon as Bo went down for his nap. I stuck to it and it gets easier and easier to do them.
I look forward to them and they give me strength.

Another example:
I am terrified of soul winning.
Talking to people about their souls is frightening to me.
I know it's important and that we're called to do it but I couldn't get my flesh under control enough to even hand out a tract.
As I fed the New Man (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10) by reading, praying, and studying I became bolder and more determined to share the gospel.
It's like Peter and John in the book of Acts:

Now when they saw the boldness of

Peter and John, and perceived that they

were unlearned and ignorant men, they

marvelled; and they took knowledge of

them, that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:13

Spending time with Christ makes you bolder.
Not only that, it sets your priorities in order.
It's funny that way- You make God your first and absolute priority and everything else gets put in place, completed, and you are more fruitful.
Human logic says otherwise doesn't it?

I started praying for opportunities to give out the gospel, I keep tracts available with me at all times, and I make sure to heed the Spirit's urgings to hand them out.
God gives me opportunities and I take them.
My flesh does get in the way sometimes but it is easily overcome.

What this boils down to is priorities.
What are your priorities in this life?
This life ends. This world will end. Nothing we have in our lives right now is coming with us when we leave- by death or by rapture.
I don't believe any born again Christian can say that they do not think it's necessary to spend time in the Word. I know many know it's important but do not give it the time of day.
To be really fruitful as a Christian you must be spending time in the bible.
Want to be a better mom? Read the Bible and pray about it
Want to be a better wife? Read the Bible and pray about it
Have wayward family members? Read the Bible and pray about it
Having trouble at church? Read the Bible and pray about it

As you feed the New Man, you're life will change. No matter what is going on around you, you'll have the strength and time to deal with it prudently.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures

upon earth, where moth and rust doth

corrupt, and where thieves break through

and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in

heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth

corrupt, and where thieves do not break 

through nor steal.

Matthew 6:19&20

Devotions Part One- How

I have a new nephew!
My sister had a baby on May 30, I was there the whole time and afterwards I was exhausted.
Exhausted and extra busy.
So I took a week off.

I'm back now and I have it in my head to write about devotions.

In the twenty-six years of my life I cannot say I have been very consistent devotion doer.
Most of the time my devotions get pushed aside in favour of things going on that day.
I was great at doing my devotions until my son was born.
I got to doing them again but getting up early wasn't something I could keep up.
And on and on it goes.
What I find amazing about spending consistent, dedicated time in the bible is how much you really grow.
It isn't by leaps and bounds but steady upward steps.

I don't believe there is one right way of doing devotions.
God doesn't give a how-to on that.
Scripture is full of commands to read, study, fast, and pray but how and when is completely up to us.

When I was first beginning to seek God my devotions were reading.
I would just read and read the Word.
I needed that badly since I grew up in church but hadn't even read Exodus for myself ever (so pathetic and shameful I know).
I needed the Word because I needed to be cleansed:

That he might sanctify and cleanse it

with the washing of water by the word,

Ephesians 5:26

My mind, heart, and soul needed cleansing from all the wordly influence.

Then I began to be under conviction that I needed to pray.

Thus I started by devotions by praying and ended them with a longer prayer.

I started a prayer book to keep track of requests and made a list of all the people I knew and divided them up into manageable groups to pray for.

Then I got bored.

Yep. Bored.

That sounds terrible doesn't it?

I had read most of the bible (I couldn't get very far in Leviticus and Deuteronomy) but it stopped soaking in because I stopped paying attention.

I stopped paying attention because I had already read it and felt like I knew it.

That's when I started to study the bible.

I got a notebook and studied each verse of whatever book I was reading.

Taking the time to dissect, cross-reference, and ponder each word of a verse in it's context has opened up the Word to me even more.

Honestly, sometimes I read on of Paul's epistles and the whole time I wonder what on earth he is talking about. When I stopped to take the time to go through each verse, see when the sentence started and where it stopped, read it in context and take it in with the everything else he was inspired to write, I began to understand more fully.

I believe God did that on purpose.

There are some books (Hello James, Titus, and Jude) where each verse stands alone and grabs you by the heart.

Paul has those stand alone verses too, but he has a lot more doctrine. Things to study and establish yourself in.

I do not go to any commentaries, if I am unsure of something I search the rest of the bible or I wait for a day or so and God gives me an answer. He always answers, often when I am at church or when I'm reading with my husband or son.

Studying the bible in depth also helps strengthen your knowledge of certain words, doctrines, and commandments.

For example, the word meek.

If you just read through your bible you come across it here and there. You get an idea of it in each verse  and you move along, learning of other things too.

I came across it one day and studied it in depth.

I knew Moses was meek and Jesus was meek, and God likes meekness but those things don't cover half of what God says about the meek.

Meekness is a fruit of the spirit.

Learning about it helped me understand it better and helped me grow into it and produce it in my life.

I intend to make this a devotion series (two or three posts at most) but let me encourage you, if your devotions have fallen off, if you just read for the sake of saying you read it, if you aren't as excited about the Word as you used to be, pick a book (ask God to help you) read it, and study it verse by verse.

I promise it will rejuvenate your walk with God and you will be closer to him.

I use www.thywordistrue.com to look up words and find verses when I need.

Two things:

Use a bible to study. Don't use an app on your ipad or a website to read.

Use your bible. Make notes, write cross references down in your bible.

It will help you as you study more and more books and you will remember it better having written it down. 

This method is best used on New Testament books, particularly the epistles.

I love reading the copious historical accounts found in the Bible, but as a New Testament believer, I need to establish myself in the doctrines, teachings, commandments, and encouragements written to me. Those books tend to be harder to read.

I hope this helps in some small way!