THAT'S THE BOOK FOR ME... OR IS IT?
I Didn’t Read the Bible
This topic has been extremely close to my heart for several years — increasingly so over the last year and now to the point where it feels like my heart could explode… or I might physically take someone by the shoulders and shake them. (I can’t make promises, but I don’t plan to actually do that.) Let’s rewind though.
I grew up in the church. I went to Sunday School every week as well as worship, Jr Church (until I was too old and then I sat in “Big Church”, of course. Did anyone else call it that?) I also attended youth group meetings regularly… you get the picture. I grew up in a home of believers and servants. The Bible was important as was prayer, service, and community. I can still see the Bible my dad used when I was growing up in it’s tattered, black leather case. His Bibles were and still are well worn.
I loved to read growing up but for some reason I never really developed the habit of reading the Bible regularly on my own. As I got older, I would look up some verses to support myself in an argument. I would look up a verse or two for encouragement. And I knew all the classic verses that you began memorizing as kids (John 3:16.)
I tried to read through different books of the Bible but it always seemed incredibly daunting, and I always felt confused by what I was reading. I attended church weekly and when I got into college, that didn’t change. I also met with a ladies, Bible study group in my dorm’s common area every week. But still I was not consistent with my reading.
And then one day I was stopped in my tracks... and a little embarrassed. One of the Bible study leaders—who was an upperclassman in my same major— wanted to meet me for lunch. She was great, and we really connected so of course I went. But then she asked me what God had been teaching me lately.
I had nothing to say.
Why? Because I wasn’t reading His Word and my prayers mostly revolved around me asking for what I wanted. I didn’t know what He was teaching me because I wasn’t communicating with Him. “I didn’t have time to read, I was too confused, and too overwhelmed.” Did I tell her that? Absolutely not. Pride alert. I played it off; though I’m sure she could see right through me and into my panic.
After that day, I read my Bible regularly and haven’t looked back since! Right? Wrong.
I probably became more aware of my need for the Word consistently, and I probably opened my Bible more often. But I didn’t grow and mature in Christ like we are called to. I had always heard of people saying they were “in love with Christ”, and my pride would have me say the same claim. But if we’re being honest, I didn’t share that feeling. Don’t get me wrong - I loved the Lord. I did. I had faith, and I desired to have that kind of relationship; but I just didn’t have it.
It wasn’t until sometime after college that I really started searching and wanting to dig deeper… The Lord used a Christian counselor to help me heal from a childhood trauma but He also allowed me to be in a lonely phase of my life. These two realities along with some wonderful Christian friendships, spurred me onto a correct use of His Word. And, by His grace, I can honestly and wholeheartedly tell you that I am in love with Christ.
Learning how to handle His Word and study it with for the right reasons completely transformed my faith. I spend intentional time with Him daily — of course I’m not perfect. Some days there is quality and quantity but some days it's not so glamorous or “instagram worthy.” Sometimes there is a sleeping toddler or nursing baby or dirty dishes involved. But my hearts’ desire is to connect and deepen an intimate relationship with Him. I’m far from a Bible Scholar — I’ve never been to Bible college or anything like that; however, I have a deep passion for Christian women growing in their faith and taking that next step to go deeper. And that just so happens to require reading the Bible.
What’s The Truth?
In our current culture, anxiety and depression are at all time high. Earlier this week I unintentionally watch the morning news and as I watched news anchors cover tragedies in our country and the world, I began to sympathize and understand part of the reason these mental illnesses plague adults to young children. We’re getting bombarded with tragedy, more tragedy, drama, and brokenness with no end in site.
We’re lost and looking in all the wrong places. We might not even think we’re lost; but tell me if this sounds familiar to your day in any way.
The alarm goes off, you reach for your phone (maybe you’ve hit snooze 1-15 times already) and you check what you’ve missed — emails, social media, text messages, the news. You get up, get ready, catch some of the local and national news on TV or you jump in the car and listen to the radio. You check some more social media at some point before your work day begins or before the kids wake up and then your “work day” actually begins. The chaos continues with more checking of texts, emails, social media, and whatever else people do these days. And then you come home to the evening routine where the chaos finally ends with you sitting down on the couch, if you’re lucky, and watching your favorite show…while scrolling.
I know there will be variations depending on your life’s season…but I’m not all that far off for many, am I?
I read just this morning from a devotional I use:
“It’s the belief that life somehow, some way can be found outside of [Jesus Christ]; that the world is capable of being our savior. And because we fall into believing that life can be found outside him, God isn’t central to our dreams. He’s not in our dreams. The only way he actually touches many of our dreams is that we see him as the delivery mechanism of the good life that we dream of and ask him to produce. He is not life to us; he’s the deliverer of life. He is not the end that we hunger for, he’s but the means to the end we crave… God is unwilling to be your means to what you call ‘the good life.’ Your relationship with him must be your definition of the good life.” (Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies, June 24.)
Do we view life in Christ as the “good life?” We’d like to say yes, but if we aren’t in an actual relationship with Him where we are reading His Word for ourselves regularly and consistently (as well as praying and being involved in a local of believers,) then the answer to that question is, “No.” Life is found only in Him. We don’t start working on a relationship with Him once XYZ happens… I always thought I’d have more “time” to read my bible once I was out of school. Well, the joke is on me, adulthood then motherhood left me with zero free time.
But if we believe that Christ is our source of life, as we should—not our jobs, relationships, children, material things, etc—then we will make time. We will be intentional. We will make it a priority. We will cut out whatever we need to in our schedule so that we can connect to the Author and Perfecter of Life, our Savior Jesus Christ. We cannot say we believe Christ and then not believe He is the “way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6, NIV.)
Christ is our compass. The Word of God is the Truth — it is what we should hold up everything else that claims to be true. This totally goes against what our “find your truth” culture tells us. If we aren’t calibrating our “compass” daily then of course we’re going to be overly stressed, anxious, depressed, frustrated, confused, and saddened by the world we live in. If we aren’t intentionally connecting with Christ daily then everything seems pretty hopeless, and we are going to get lost in the brokenness of the world. But most importantly, if we aren’t connecting to Christ daily then what does that say we believe about Him? If someone followed you around for a couple days in the middle of the week, what would they believe was your god?
He is life, and we must believe that...then live like we believe it.
“Going Deeper: Steps to Mature in Faith”
It’s really easy to stay stagnant, right? It’s much easier to not change and just continue in routines the way we’ve always done them—but if we’re wanting to arrive at a specific location (in this case, to the arms of Jesus), then we have to do this intentionally. No one makes it to their destination while at sea just by drifting there.
It takes intentionality to grow in our faith, to be able to weather the storm without losing hope. It takes our intentional knowing and believing that we aren’t living this life just for this life. It takes intentional life to be able to live in joy even when difficulties arise. Let’s start here:
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47
Devoted to the Word
First we’re going to point out that these people (the early church), were “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” (Acts 2:42) This teaching was the Gospel. We have this in written word through the Bible.
They weren’t just checking it out as they had time, when they felt like they might understand it, when it was a special occasion, or because someone else was… They were personally devoted. The gospel was their life. Are we devoted? Are we unwavering in our desire to be in God’s Word? Do we believe that His Word is true? Do we believe that it’s necessary and powerful in our lives?
Have you ever read the book of John? When you do, the first verse is mind blowing…this is what it says:
In the beginning the Word already existed.The Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, NLT)
Did you catch that? "…the Word was God.”
I cannot claim Christianity and avoid the Word. I can’t say I have no other gods before my God if I’m not consistently in His Word and spending time with Him. I can’t be growing in an intimate relationship with my Savior if I’m only catching up with Him once a week for an hour or so, or only reading what others have to say about Him… that’s not an intimate relationship, that’s a lazy acquaintanceship.
If we want to grow—if we want to call ourselves Christians and really take on the devoted commitment He calls us to (Matthew 16:24-25) then we have to be committed to who God is. John tells us that the Word is God. But we can’t do it alone.
Intentionally Intrusive
We must be intentionally intrusive in the lives of our fellow Believers. We aren’t called to solidarity. We aren’t called to live alone.
The internet is a fabulous tool. But it’s just that, a tool. It isn’t meant to replace what we are called to be, and that is community. A mentor of mine likes to remind us that we are “not physical beings living in a virtual world, we are spiritual beings called to live purposefully in the physical world.”
The early church was all up in each others’ business. If you read through the New Testament, over and over you read the calling to “encourage” one another and not to give up meeting together. And for us as Christians, it also tells us to call one another out. So yes, Jesus wants us to call out other Christians and get in their business. Why? Because the enemy is crafty. His native language is lies and if you let your guard down for a second, if you start listening to the word more than His Word, he is there ready to pounce. He is there ready to tell you that it’s “ok this once”, to listen to your heart, not to let anyone else tell you what to do because it’s your life and you deserve _______.
And guess what? If we’re not devoted to the Word and if we’re not devoted to being in intimate communion with other Believers—we’re just off by ourselves getting led down that wide path of sin, pleasure, lust, selfishness, pride, addiction, anger, annoyance, confusion, and the idea that “no one gets to tell me what to do.”
Well, it turns out if you’re a Christian, then yes, we do get to “tell you what to do” (though not that harsh, of course.) I loved this explanation from Desiring God:
“When we sin, our Christian brothers and sisters have an obligation to judge us. They must not condemn us, but they must, out of love, call us to repent. Such judgment is a grace, an expression of God’s kindness (Romans 2:4), and we only compound our sin if we take offense.” (Jon Bloom)
If we aren’t intentional in our friends’ lives, how can we offer that grace of adjusting their compass? If we aren’t letting people be intentional in our lives, how can anyone offer us that grace when we get sidetracked? We’re all going to sin—that’s not in question. The question is, when it happens and we’ve become blind to our own sin, who is going to be there to gently and lovingly point us back to the narrow path of Christ? It sure isn’t going to be the enemy.
We need other believers and not just to sit next to, shoulder to shoulder, listening to someone else talk about God. No, we need to know them, not just the outward struggles of their lives but the tiny places the enemy sneaks into to plant lies, doubt, and frustration. Those are the places we need to be intrusive about and to love through.
God himself is community. He is 3 in 1. We can’t avoid being in community. We can’t avoid being in His church. And we can’t avoid being intentionally intrusive in others’ lives while allowing them to do the same for us.
But now what…?
I have action steps we can do to help move us deeper.
If you’re needing help getting started in the Word, or if you’re needing a way to go deeper, check out our Women re(Purposed) downloadable guide. If you’re a newer believer and needing to know how to get intentionally intrusive with other Christians, here are some steps for you to take:
Find a mentor.This is someone in your local church who you see growing in her faith and serving in the church. She might be a life stage or two (or more) ahead of you. Read the Bible together, pray together, and just share those areas in your life that you want to give over to Christ but are struggling with. Share the areas that you feel the enemy tugging at. Let her speak life, Truth, and wisdom over your life. It doesn’t have to start off super intrusive, but it does have to start to get intentionally intrusive.
Find someone younger than you to mentor. You don’t have to teach her anything, but you can share that wisdom you’ve gained from going through life thus far. You’ve seen God at work in your life, you can read the Bible together, and you can pray together. Again, it has to start before it can get deeper.
Serve in your church. The Church wasn’t intended to be your filling station. It’s not a place for you to go to sit back and listen, get your order taken, and then decide if it was “good” or not. You are to be active in your church.Church isn’t about what you get out of it, it’s about serving,worshipping our Lord, and loving the lost. And you don’t have to teach or lead anything to be serving, find a way and do it consistently, not just once or twice a year.
Another note on this one, if you’re serving a lot and feeling “burnt out” it’s because you’re trying to pour from an empty cup; be devoted to filling your cup up everyday. Your burn out is not a result of your serving… it’s a result of a flame not being properly “fanned.”
If you are a more mature believer:
First make sure you’re not so busy that you’re unapproachable. The saying goes, “if the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Check your heart as to why you need to be so busy. Your worth is found in Christ—not in your schedule or what you think is produced from your busyness.
Find someone to mentor—a younger lady in your local church who needs some love and encouragement. Read together, pray together, and get intentional. You have to start, and a great mindset to have is to "be what you need.” Be the person you wish you had when you were in that stage of life. Don’t make someone suffer just because you had to…But make sure you’re rooted in Christ yourself.
Don’t neglect to study and go deeper in your Bible. Don’t rely on what you once did or once knew.Continually seek what the Lord has for you. He is a well that has no bottom and can never run dry.
Don’t stop serving.You might have to get creative. You might have to write letters of encouragement and pray instead of wrestling babies on the floor of the nursery, but your gifts are needed right now, please don’t hold back.
Bonus for us all: Make it a point for the Bible to become more “normal” than checking your phone, watching TV, or listening to the radio. All those pursuits that the world says are “okay” because you’re tired and just need a minute (trust me, I know the feeling), swap them out for God’s word. There is no “mindless” activity that will fill you up or give you more energy than your Creator’s voice.
Friend, I know all of this takes intention. I know all of this seems “hard”…but I promise it’s worth it. We aren’t living this life for just this life. We have so much more in store, so let’s be disciplined enough to do what’s often hard and reap the blessings. Let’s do what seems weird to the world and show them the light of love and joy that we are filled up with by doing what others don’t.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2, NLT)
Being Enough: The ‘How To’ and Relieving Truth
I have been guilty of saying this motivational phrase before...
"You are enough."
In a world of comparison, social media, and constant interaction, it is so easy to look at others and feel less than...isn’t it? To look at those pictures and updates and feel like we don't measure up. To feel as if we aren't doing enough and what we are doing...well, probably messing that up, too.
But then someone comes along and tells us that we are enough. We aren't less than. No one is superior. All the praise hands! Big sigh of relief. Right?
When we're comparing ourselves to someone else, ok...maybe we are enough. There’s an idea that I discussed often when I was still running my health consulting business that I think is a great reminder and it’s this: Just because she is, doesn’t mean you aren’t.
Whatever adjective describes the person you're comparing yourself to...it doesn't mean you are not that adjective. Pretty. Smart. Successful. Whatever... Just because she is that [insert adjective] doesn’t take away from what gifts and qualities you were given.
But we cannot compare to another human. Lfe situations, experiences, phases,different personalities, abilities, gifts…they’re all different. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.
As a mom, a wife, a Christian, and just a woman,it's so very easy to get caught up in comparison, probably more so surrounding motherhood than in anything else in my experience.
But here's the truth:we are not enough. You're not enough. I'm not enough. The end.
On our own, for our own worldly agenda, nothing that we do matters. As we are, completely on our own, we are not enough and that's because sin entered this world. We are flawed, prideful, sinful humans.
But through Christ, and only through Him, can we become more. Our actions can have worth for eternity. Our agendas can have a weight that far surpasses anything we could accomplish on our own.
It’s not that we shouldn’t be loved. It’s that we are loved despite our constant rebellion. And not by our own doing or striving.
It’s not that we can’t ever be enough. It’s that only by His grace, His love, His mercy, and His sacrifice that made the way for us to be whole again... that is the only way we could have been enough. He is the only way we can be enough.
On our own, without Him, we are not enough…no matter how many times we wash our face or choose to not say sorry. No matter how much striving and hustling and cleaning and schooling we do. No matter your age or life stage or relationship status or job title. No matter how many books we read, followers we have, or kids we birth. No matter how closely our house looks to Joanna Gaines’ or our bodies to the swimsuit models.
All of that fades and is worthless.It’s a rabbit hole of nothingness that will leave us feeling empty and constantly working for more.
If we are accepting this idea that we are enough, even if we don’t realize it, then we're saying, "Nope...I'm good. I might not be as good as she is but I'm okay as I am and I’m going to bask in myself."
We're saying we don't need anything or anyone else because we are enough. We’re deciding it’s okay to stop worshipping others and start worshipping ourselves.
But, can we hear it again? We are not enough. We are in desperate need of help. Desperate for saving, for grace! We are desperate for a Messiah, Jesus Christ.
And contrary to what the world tells us, it’s okay to be in need of someone else.
Through that need comes the realization that we can’t do it on our own, but also the peace that it's okay...because through Him and His sacrifice we can become more than conquerors.
And in that realization, there's beauty. Beauty in the redemption, in the grace, in our lacking. When we are weak, He is strong. When we are not, He is. When we cannot, He can.
In a world where we're constantly striving to be more, be better, be enough...where we're fighting for our "right," this idea seems ridiculous. It seems ridiculous to be more than okay with our weakness, or to be kind when faced with unkindness, or to give grace and love in the face of anger and hurt and rejection. Right?
Can I tell you what else was ridiculous? It was also ridiculous for Jesus Christ to pay a penalty He didn’t need to. But He did it because we never could. It was ridiculous for Him to die a death that we should have.
But then, praise His holy name, Christ Jesus defeated death and came back to life so that we might have life forever. No fear in death. No worry of striving for “our piece of the pie” here on earth. No frustration because we aren’t measuring up to the world. No living in fear and constant hopelessness wondering, “what’s the point?”
Because this world is not our home. We are strangers here just passing through. When we accept we’re not enough and take Christ as are savior, we become citizens of heaven, not of earth. And we don’t just get a “piece of the pie,” we get the whole beautiful pie even though we’ve deserved not even a crumb.
So setting our sights on being "enough" in this world, compared to some other flawed human being...it's such a waste, isn't it? It's so empty.
Our eternity starts once Jesus saves our aching souls. We get to begin our eternity right here on earth and then live joyfully because death has no hold on us. Our bodies will fade but our souls never will. We get to live through all the hardships knowing that in the end, Christ already won. That setback isn’t the end. There is no fear through Christ because He was and is victorious.
However, friend, you must know that eternity is dependent upon where we place our loyalty, worship, and worth. And if we're "enough" on earth and we find our worth here, then our eternity is going to be very bleak. Our peace will be lacking. Our hope will be absent.
But if you accept King Jesus and allow Him to be strong where you are weak, accept that He paid the price you never could, eternity will be full of joy, life, love, peace.
The truth is, I’m not enough myself. I'm not strong enough. I'm not kind enough. I'm not loving enough. I'm not forgiving enough. I'm not humble enough. I'm not patient enough. I am not enough. And that is okay only because my worth is found in the One who created me and loves me with an everlasting love—even when/though I fail every day.
It's okay that I'm not enough because the Lord is more than enough and His grace and mercies are new every day.
So let's compare ourselves to Him...and then rest in His love, strength, and grace.
We love people who are “real” but what’s more beautiful and fulfilling than relating to someone else? It is knowing we are not enough in Him and then embracing the beauty and redemption found in His Truth.
If you have already accepted Jesus and His free gift, friend, blow off all those messages that are trying to hinder you and keep you striving. They’re sneaky and make it seem like they’re giving you a “pass”, but it’s just another chain. Shake it off, run freely to Christ, and let Him carry your burdens, and be your strength.
But if you’ve not accepted Christ and want to or just have questions, please reach out to our team. You will be met with patience and love, not with anger and judgement.