The Powerful Word

I think many Christians are familiar with the passage in Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Every now and then we get a reminder of this. I got one this morning. 

Deuteronomy 12:18 says

And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.

For some context, this verse is in the middle of a charge to the people of Israel to be faithful to take the land of Canaan and to worship in the place and manner God commanded. Specifically, it is in a passage about how the people are allowed to eat certain kinds of meat prepared in a certain way. Admittedly, this is a passage I am tempted to gloss over as these regulations don't apply in our day under the new covenant.

Now, for some context about me. I'm working through a plan to read the Bible in a year, which is looking more like two years given my current pace. That explains why I'm reading in Deuteronomy. Our family is also trying to sell our house and buy a new one in the area. I'm having a lot of anxiety over this. It's a huge decision and and awful lot of money, at least to me. This one part of a verse pointed to the "thoughts and intentions" of my heart. I wasn't rejoicing, but worrying. Quite a bit, actually.

I took two things away from this experience. One is a reminder that the systematic reading of God's word is indeed effective in our lives. You never know what verse may pierce through you, show you your life in a very uncomfortable light, and point you to God's way for our lives. I encourage you to participate in a plan for reading systematically through the Bible, even if you're on a multi-year plan to do so.

The second is I'm working on applying that verse and making an attitude change. This is the harder part, but I should rejoice in this undertaking of buying a house. It is a great blessing to possibly move out of our place to have some more room. I have so many other things to be grateful for, too. That is what I should think about and set my heart on.

Image Source: By Søren Niedziella from Denmark (Albion_Ljubljana_Medieval_Sword_16) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

TBG: Easter Sunday

This issue of TBD is easy: Easter Sunday. For the christian, Easter reminds us of the best day ever. It reminds us that Jesus has conquered death. It reminds us that our wretched sins are indeed forgiven and atoned for. Overcoming death is the great proof Jesus gives us that all he said was true: he loves us deeply, he took the wrath of God in our place, has given us his righteousness, and has prepared a place for us after we die.

It is true. It is good. It is beautiful. Indeed the Gospel - the good news that though we are sinners, Jesus died to take that wrath on himself, and that mercy is to all who believe - is the core of Christianity, and is at the core of my life.

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emeryjl/520114756 used under the Creative Commons license

TBG: Answered Prayer

I'm starting a new series of posts that I hope will encourage you and myself. As my wife can tell you, I tend to be a pessimist (I prefer the term "realist") about life in general. Perhaps that explains why I'm amillenial in my eschatology. Anyway, I know my own nature is to dwell on failures and faults, but there is much good in the world God has made to be thankful for. Thus, I'm starting a series on Truth, Beauty, and Goodness or TBG for short. I hope to post about once a week on something that hits one or more of those categories to remind you (and myself) to rejoice and praise our God over those things.

For the first one, I want to share a brief story.

Plodding Habits - Prayer

Prayer is another plodding habit that will feed your soul. It works just as slowly as the others, day in and day out.

If you're not even sure where to start, I point you to the Lord's Prayer as a model to follow. Think through each part of it and expand on it. For example, when we pray, we pray to "our father in heaven." We can expand on this and think of the many other names of God and address him with those also. Lord, Savior, Father, Almighty, and so forth. When we add "hallowed be your name" we can spend time in praise of him and his greatness and thanking him for the many blessings he gives. Continue like this through the rest of the prayer. One thing you will notice is that you must spend time in praise of God, turning our attention to him rather than only asking for things.

If you prefer, you can have an even simpler structure using the ACTS acronym. That is

• Adoration - praising God for who he is
• Confession - confessing your sins and asking him to forgive you
• Thanksgiving - thanking God for his gifts, blessings, and forgiveness
• Supplication - asking God for our needs and those of others

You do not have to include every part of prayer every time.  Several years ago, I was trying to pull off a winding road in the rain and my car slid into a ditch and down a hill. I was praying, braking, and steering all together and I didn't have time to get through adoration, confession, and thanksgiving before my supplication! But, we should have time set aside to pray just like for scripture reading, so we can spend time on each part of prayer.

Another example I will share is from Nehemiah. In chapter 1, Nehemiah learns of the sad state of Jerusalem and prays extensively to God on behalf of his people. In chapter 2, the king asks Nehemiah what is troubling him. Verse 4 says Nehemiah prayed immediately after this question, then answered. I think we can assume that Nehemiah didn't run from the room, spend time going through ACTS, then return. He probably prayed something like "Lord, help me!" in his mind and then asked. Both are valid prayers, but we should cultivate both.

Image source

Plodding Habits - Reading Good Books

This is another part of my short series on developing habits that will feed your soul.  Once you have a plan to read the Bible (the most important book to read) consider reading the many other excellent books out there to encourage you in your Christian life.

In our day, we have so many things that can district us. Netflix or a game on your phone is an easy way to fill time with entertainment. Rest and entertainment are not bad by themselves - they are good!  However, time is a non-renewable resource. We should use it wisely. Reading good books gives you a window into another's mind and perspective. This helps you see your own blind spots and find wisdom ways you would not have thought of on your own.

Below is my completely biased list of some excellent books to consider if you have never read them.