Help Series - Write as You Read the Bible

Have you ever read a portion of Scripture - perhaps even several pages or chapters - only to realize that you have no idea what you just read? Your eyes may be reading words but your mind is thinking about the phone call you just received or your day's schedule. If you wish to know God, you must know His Word, advised C. H. Spurgeon.

How to make the Word come alive within you:

Write out portions of the Word. Do you remember in elementary school when the teacher would instruct the class to copy a list from the blackboard? The teacher knew you were more likely to grasp and remember the concepts if you copied the words. God knew how prone His people were to forget what He had told them. Over and over, He challenged them to remember Him, to remember His law, to remember what He had done for them. Taking time to write out specific passages from the Word forces you to think about what you are reading and to observe the details of the text more carefully. You could begin by writing out paragraphs of scriptures on index cards, then meditating on or memorizing those passages.

Write in your Bible. Underline verses you find particularly meaningful to you. In time your Bible will tell a story of your personal journey of faith during a specific period of time. Circle repeated words or phrases. Write cross references in the margin as well as noting the meaning of specific words or phrases.
Record insights. When John was in exile, he was given a vision of heaven. The Lord appeared to him and said, Write on a scroll what you see...Write, therefore, what you have seen (Rev. 1:11,19). Likewise, you can write what you have seen in scripture. Use journals to record your observations and insights that the Holy Spirit has shown you while reading and meditating on the Word. Each time you write, record the date and passage you are reading.
Record your responses. Ask yourself, What should I do? God told Ezekiel that the problem with His people was that They sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice (Ex. 33:31). How does this truth apply to my life? What changes need to be made in my life?
Record milestones in your spiritual pilgrimage. When the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites, God used the occasion to teach the eager Joshua to rely, not on his natural strength or ability, but on the power of God revealed each time Moses raised his arms. Not wanting Joshua ever to forget that the Amalekites were his eternal enemies and that He alone had the power to overcome them, the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered (Ex. 17:14). This is perhaps the first Biblical illustration of what we calljournaling. When you have spiritual achievements (understanding the death of a loved one, coming to terms with your frailties, learning about obedience), write them down as a reminder of the providence of God.

From A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, copyright (c) 2000.

Take Your Job and Love It by Max Lucado

My heart took delight in all my work. Ecclesiastes 2:10 (NIV)


Contrast two workers. The first one slices the air with his hand, making points, instructing the crowd. He is a teacher and, from the look of things, a compelling one. He stands on a beach, rendering the slanted seashore an amphitheater. As he talks, his audience increases; as the audience grows, his platform shrinks. The instructor steps back and back until the next step will take him into the water. That's when he spots another worker.
A fisherman. Not animated, but frustrated. He spent all night fishing, but caught nothing. All night! Double-digit hours worth of casting, splashing, and pulling the net. But he caught nothing. Unlike the teacher, the fisherman has nothing to show for his work. He draws no crowds; he doesn't even draw fish. Just nets.
Two workers. One pumped up. One worn-out. The first, fruitful. The second, futile. To which do you relate?
If you empathize with the fisherman, you walk a crowded path. Before you change professions, try this: change your attitude toward your profession.
Jesus' word for frustrated workers can be found in the fifth chapter of Luke's gospel, where we encounter the teacher and the frustrated fisherman. You've likely guessed their names—Jesus and Peter. Peter, Andrew, James, and John made their living catching and selling fish. Like other fishermen, they worked the night shift, when cool water brought the game to the surface. And, like other fishermen, they knew the drudgery of a fishless night.
While Jesus preaches, they clean nets. And as the crowd grows, Christ has an idea.
He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd. (vv. 2-3 MSG)
Jesus claims Peter's boat. He doesn't request the use of it. Christ doesn't fill out an application or ask permission; he simply boards the boat and begins to preach.
He can do that, you know. All boats belong to Christ. Your boat is where you spend your day, make your living, and to a large degree live your life.
Your boat is God's pulpit.
I have a friend who understands this. By job description she teaches at a public elementary school. By God's description she pastors a class of precious children. Read the e-mail she sent her friends:
I'm asking for your prayers for my students. I know everyone is busy, but...
On and on the list goes, including nearly deaf Sara. Disorganized-but-thoughtful Terrell. Model-student Alicia. Bossy-but-creative Kaelyn.
Does this teacher work for a school system or for God? Does she spend her day in work or worship? Does she make money or a difference? Every morning she climbs in the boat Jesus loaned her. The two of them row out into the water and cast nets. My friend imitates Peter.
Suppose you were to do what Peter did. Take Christ to work with you. Invite him to superintend your nine-to-five. He showed Peter where to cast nets. Won't he show you where to transfer funds, file the documents, or take the students on a field trip?
Holy Spirit, help me stitch this seam.
Lord of creation, show me why this manifold won't work.
King of kings, please bring clarity to this budget.
Dear Jesus, guide my hands as I trim this hair.
Pray the prayer of Moses: "Let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!" (Ps. 90:17 MSG).
Hold it there. I saw you roll those eyes. You see no way God could use your work. Your boss has the disposition of a hungry pit bull; hamsters have larger work areas; your kids have better per diems. You feel sentenced to the outpost of Siberia, where hope left on the last train. If so, meet one final witness. He labored eighteen years in a Chinese prison camp.
The Communist regime rewarded his faith in Christ with the sewage assignment. The camp kept its human waste in pools until it fermented into fertilizer. The pits seethed with stink and disease. Guards and prisoners alike avoided the cesspools and all who worked there, including this disciple.
After he'd spent weeks in the pit, the stench pigmented his body. He couldn't scrub it out. Imagine his plight, far from home. And even in the prison, far from people. But somehow this godly man found a garden in his prison. "I was thankful for being sent to the cesspool. This was the only place where I was not under severe surveillance. I could pray and sing openly to our Lord. When I was there, the cesspool became my private garden."
He then quoted the words to the old hymn:
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice so clear whispers in my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.
"I never knew the meaning of this hymn until I had been in the labor camp," he said. God can make a garden out of the cesspool you call work, if you take him with you.
For Peter and his nets, my friend and her class, the prisoner and his garden, and for you and your work, the promise is the same: everything changes when you give Jesus your boat.


From Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2005) Max Lucado

A Reflection of you

A son and his father were walking on the mountains.
Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"
Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."
And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"
Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"
The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE.
It gives you back everything you say or do.
Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.
This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life;
Life will give you back everything you have given to it."


YOUR LIFE IS A REFLECTION OF YOU