Should I Join a Book Club?

I LOVE BOOKS.

The love the smell of them, the sight of them, the heft of them (print versions), the content of them.

Books have been important to me most of my life, from those early Nancy Drew Mysteries (the originals) read with a flashlight under the covers at night, to the marvelous Gothic mystery-romances by Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt and Daphne du Maurier, which carried me away to exotic places and times and “gentle” love. (My favorite and most often read one is still This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart, set on an island in Greece.)

Then there came the countless books I read to my two boys as they grew up, from the whimsical Dr. Seuss rhymes and many volumes of illustrated children’s’ verse and fairy tales, to the detailed, cartoon towns, jobs and objects depicted by Richard Scarry.

I encouraged my granddaughters to read board books, chapter books and more. My oldest fell in love with Nancy Drew (of course!) and then… Jane Austin.

So eager was I to make books precious to them, that I wrote serialize stories, simple short stories, treasure hunt birthday stories (with activities) and eventually a couple junior-age books for them.

I love a lot of genres, but my favorite is still mysteries, and I’ve graduated to literary-mysteries like those written by Madeline Gornell, and my favorite author today, Louise Penny. And now, after being a member of Mystery Writers of American and Sisters In Crime (writers), I also read lots of books for review in magazines and for author friends.

I am a reader. But I’ve never joined a book club.

Many women’s magazines have monthly articles featuring a book club located in a town within their readership. They give a brief highlight of what they do and list some of their favorite books. Also, these magazines feature a page of suggested books for reading – women, teens, children, history, humor, biography, etc.

Westways, the magazine of the Auto Club does this, and so does the monthly AARP newsletter (yes, I’m a senior!).

My reasons for not joining a book club were several:
1. time commitment, not only for the meetings, but for the time to read the book and consider the questions.
2. what if I didn’t like the books to be read?
3. what if my Christian based opinions were scorned? (Yes, I know… it is to be expected, and I should take joy in standing up for Christ.)
4. where does one FIND a book club?

A gal in my eight-member writing group – The Writers In Residence – Bonnie Schroeder recently wrote her blog post on being a member (and featured author) of a book club. She writes about what a book club IS, how one operates, the fun and not-so-fun books she’s read, discussing and moderating the chosen monthly book, and lastly the nail-biting anxiety of having her own book read.

Check out her post at: http://bit.ly/2ahjheK

So, why do I write about book clubs on a blog that features devotional topics?

Because I realized that I have been a member of the BEST Book Of The Month Club ever! It’s all about the Bible; the Word of God. You can read and reread the Bible as often as you like, pick out favorite passages, begin at the beginning, the middle or the ending, go to it for uplifting joy, inspiration, comfort, promise, knowledge, marching orders, even scolding! It contains biography, history, thrilling adventures, even romance. It is written for all ages, for all times. It’s truths “endure forever.”

Now HERE is the Book Club to join if you want to read THIS book – Bible Study Fellowship!

BSF has an in-depth reading, studying, and discussion of the Book of Books. Over the years it has covered nearly every portion in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It runs for 9 months, concurrent to most school years, and meets once-a-week at a nearby host church. It will change your life, your heart, your thinking, and perhaps even your eternal future as the Gospel is proclaimed. Read it’s featured book, discuss it with other women (or men), hear it explained, and read supporting passages. You will never regret joining THIS book club, I promise.

The new study begins in September 2016, with the Gospel book of John. Contact Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for where and when and how you can join this amazing “club.” There are “classes” around the world for all ages, and probably several in your own city.

Your only requirement? The Bible. And a desire to read it.

https://www.bsfinternational.org/

They that Wait for the Lord…

May6

Recently my life has gotten very busy and stressed. My calendar is full, my daily schedule seems impossible, and my “to do” list goes on for pages.

I’m anxious about the deadlines that I and others have set for me, and find myself biting my lip as once again what I’m working on just won’t go right!

I’m frustrated and irritable. I snap at the ones I love, who by the way are only trying to help. I feel like (and often do) scream to myself. My head aches, my nerves are jittery, and I long for a nap.

Ever feel that way?

The only peace of my day comes from my early morning times of devotions with the Lord. In these, He focuses my mind on things above, on things that really count – things that HE wants done. He quiets my mind and helps me to prioritize my tasks for the day (if I will only follow through!).

Here are some verses He’s led me to in these mornings with Him. These will go at the top of my “to do” list.

Psalm 37:7 – Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 62:5 – “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.”

Lamentations 3:24 –“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.

Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am the LORD.”

Psalm 37:34 – Wait for the LORD, and keep His way.

Psalm 40:1 – “I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.”

Psalm 5:3 – “O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice!”

Zephaniah 3:17b – The LORD your God is in your midst…He will quiet you by His love.

Psalm 131:2 – “I have calmed and quieted my soul.”

Isaiah 30:15b – Thus said the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, “…in quietness and rest shall be your strength.”

Isaiah 40:31 – They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Lamentations 3:25-26 – The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Psalm 27:14 – Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the LORD.

Praying in God’s Will

Feb15

Good wisdom on how God answers prayer. Is there a “magic formula”?

Life Project Blog

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 John 5:13-15

These three simple verses are encouraging ones, for they assure us of two wonderful things. First, we have eternal life. Second, anything we ask for in prayer will be done, if we ask in God’s will. This is our focus here: God’s will.

The whole idea of tacking “in Jesus’ name, Amen” has always struck me as trying to work the system just a little bit. Of course, we do that because Jesus is recorded three times in John’s gospel telling His disciples…

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What Exactly IS that “Narrow Gate and Way?”

Feb5

Most people are familiar with John 14:1-6 where Jesus comforts his disciples in the light of the horrendous events that are about to happen to Him and to them.
“Let not your heart be troubled.”

You believe in God, well, believe also in me.

I’m going away…
but I’ll be back to get you, so you can live with me forever.
You know the way to the place I’m going, right?

Thomas (panicking) What? No! We don’t know where you are going… how can we know the WAY?

(Oh, Thomas, I know you love me so much and that you would die with me if you could, and that you can’t stand the thought of my leaving… but listen.) *I* (me, Jesus) AM the way…

(There is only ONE way to God, to heaven, to eternal life… and it is very narrow and hard to find. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Few find it.

It’s only about 10 inches wide [speaking picture-wise]. It is the “width” of the post of the cross on which would soon hang the very Son of God, paying the punishment of death for our sin in His own body… being crushed and forsaken by His dear Father as He is weighed down by the horrendous, heinous, sickening sin of all who would believe in Him….bearing it, as only a perfectly sinless being can do for another, taking on the ultimate DEATH SENTENCE.)

THIS is the way, dear fearful but faithful Thomas (and all who will believe). It’s the ONLY way. You must come to God through ME, through my death for sin on that hideous cross, which is the only thing that will satisfy the holiness and justice of God Almighty.

And I am the truth…

(Yes, old Pilate would ask Jesus “What is truth?” but how could he understand what Jesus meant?

Jesus IS the truth of God. The truth that God spoke in His word clear back in the garden of Eden, through all the promises He made concerning a sin-bearer, a devil-defeater, a perfect sacrifice, a mighty rock from which water springs, manna in the wilderness, a bronze serpent impaled on a post and lifted up, a servant, a lamb silent to its slaughter, a son of David, a King, a morning star…. All that God spoke was absolute TRUTH – the truth that is Jesus who fulfilled every single prediction and pattern in the Holy Scriptures.) (Luke 24:26-27)

And I am the life…

(We are all dead in trespasses and sin…. we all are in a living death passed down through Adam and Eve when they first chose Satan over God. The wages of this sin is death. Sure, we may live for 35, 60, 95 or even 110 earthly years, but the end of us all is certain death. The only everlasting life we can have comes through a new birth by the Holy Spirit of God.

In a way, we are Jesus’ “offspring” (Isaiah 53:10). Jesus IS that new life for each of us who will trust in Him. On the other side of that cross is new life and righteousness complete and pure. We shed our sin upon the dying Jesus and come through new born, pure and righteous.. That’s how God sees us in Christ.) (2 Corinthians 5:21)

NO PERSON comes to the Father except through Christ on the cross.

Do you believe in Jesus the truth, the ONLY narrow way to eternal life? Would to God that you did.

God’s Perfect Timing

Feb4

My Bible reading today was John 11:1-55, on Martha, Mary and their baby brother Lazarus. It’s a picture of God’s Perfect Timing, among a lot of other things. If you are like me, you are impatient when God doesn’t move when and how you expect or desire Him too. Always it is for our own good when things don’t work out to our liking. God’s ways are so much higher and better than ours! If we will just trust him quietly we would see. But, no… that’s not in our nature. Well, not in mine.

~~~~~

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” (11:1-3)

The sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was REALLY sick. (It was just a statement, but it went with the unspoken assumption that Jesus would come quickly and heal him “before it was too late.”)

Jesus did not come.

In fact He waited two more days after receiving their message before announcing to His disciples that Lazarus was dead. It took a few more days to head back and finally arrive. By that time, the brother had been the grave four days and had begun to rot. (stink)

MARTHA (going out to meet Him): “If you had been here our brother would not have died.”

MARY (falling at His feet, weeping): “If you had been here our brother would not have died.”

RELATIVES & NEIGHBORS (whispering): “Could not He who opened the eyes of the man born blind also have kept this man from dying?”

If only! Oh, if only He would have come! Things would have been so different! Why did He delay till it was too late?

(Do YOU ever feel that way? I do. That if Jesus was HERE RIGHT NOW, my illness would be cured? If He was here, He could just say the word, lay hands on me, or let power flow from his robe when I reached to touch its hem…. But He didn’t come when I prayed. He was silent. My situation got worse. I wasn’t healed.)

Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in His spirit. Seeing the grief and pain and unbelief and death that the wiles of the devil had caused to His creation through deception and sin, Jesus wept angrily.

“Where is he buried?” He demanded.

“Roll back the stone!” He commanded

“Father, I ask this so that the people around may believe that YOU sent me (to bring life and resurrection power over sin and death).” He prayed as He looked to heaven.

“LAZARUS, COME OUT!” He shouted.

It was a shout of victory over sin and death, much like his own cry from the cross, “IT IS FINISHED!”

And… “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (11:44)

Three days after His crucifixion and burial, Jesus also would rise from the dead, though the grave clothes would not cling to Him.

“Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:22-24)

“I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus said to Martha and now to us. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (11:25-26)

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

~~~~~

And so….. because of the delay of a few days (so misunderstood and maligned by the sisters) a greater miracle brought glory to Christ and to the Father, and many believed. It was a crescendo of God’s power displayed, to remind them, and all of us, and perhaps even Jesus, of that ultimate miracle which would take place on Resurrection morning.

If you are desperately praying for God’s intervention right now. If you can see no way out. If it is almost too late. Remember this story. God sees and knows exactly your circumstances. His plan for you is good. Trust Him. He is totally trustworthy.

Bible Helps on Who/What/How to Pray

Jan8

Last November, after asking God to show me how to pray more wisely and fervently, and for the people that HE desired, I looked to His Word for guidance. To the back of His Word to be exact. I looked up PRAY in my Bible’s concordance and started studying the verses listed. They really opened my eyes and I began to pray for the people who came to mind with each of those passages.

I spent several days – maybe even a week – on each one, praying for those whom God revealed from each set of verses. And I would often go back and review the whole list up to that day.

Soon after that, I wrote the post, “Using My Bible’s Concordance to Pray” (http://bit.ly/1InncvX), hoping that it might inspire YOU to try it.

I found about 16 verses in the Old Testament and 24 in the New Testament of my concordance (yours may be different, depending on the version you use). Some verses were very similar and I grouped these together.

Here are a few more that I found in the Old Testament:

6. pray for the “wicked” that God would repay injustice on them, or…. if they repent, that He would show them mercy. (You’ll find lots of these in today’s news, and they are hard to pray for.)

7. pray for myself by confessing my sin and my need to depend on God.

8. pray for those who are burdened, depressed, and despondent because of the battles going on in their lives. (emotional, marital, physical, spiritual)

9. pray for peace in Jerusalem (that the Gospel would be proclaimed, heard, and believed; so that the perfect peace of God would reign in hearts)

10. pray for those who worship idols (literally, in 3rd world countries, and here in the US, where we make money, fame, possessions – anything that we desire more than knowledge and fellowship with God – into an idol)

11. pray for “kings and governments.” I included law makers, legislators, the military, financial, economic & health leaders, police, courts, judges etc., so that we can live peaceable lives and have freedom to share the Gospel. (specific names, if you can – remember this is an election year!)

12. AND THEN CAME A FEW SCARY PASSAGES! We are NOT to pray for, intercede for, or cry out to God for – people who willfully refuse to hear His Word, obey His commandments, or repent. We are to only warn them. (especially hard if these are loved ones, but trust God)

A week before Christmas, I began on the New Testament references for PRAY.

13. (this one out of order, but I was studying in there) pray for the children of the faithful – that they will “walk in the truth.”

14. pray for those who persecute you for righteousness’ sake

15. (A how-to passage) pray with the heart attitudes that Jesus taught his disciples, avoiding those that “puff up” your ego (those won’t be heard anyway).

16. (Another how to passage) pray the “attitudes and aspects” of the “Lord’s Prayer.”

And that’s where I am today. I will spend more time on #15 and #16 before going on. There is so much to learn about the way of praying that God hears, loves and answers.

STAYED TUNED, I know there is so much more I (we) can learn in the New Testament about WHO to pray for, WHY they need prayer, and HOW to pray for them as God desires. Be sure to let God bring specific people to mind as you study, and pray for them that day, week, or however often you recall them. Otherwise this study is only “head knowledge.”

Thank, You Father for showing me this way to pray for others. Help me to fellowship and commune with You in prayer and Bible study every day.

How Do You Answer Such questions?

Jan5

What day is this?

“Why, it’s Tuesday.” (There’s only one answer to this one, although you might add the month and date, depending.)

What am I supposed to be doing? I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing!

“The laundry, washing the dishes, taking out the trash, writing thank-you notes, feeding the dog….” (lots of answers to this question, depending on the time and situation and person).

But, what if these questions are asked repeatedly, over and over, in an unceasing, annoying, frustrating, pull-your-hair-out-by-the-roots-and-scream way, many, many times a day?

What if they are asked by someone you love, someone who is struggling mentally to understand?

The easiest (but perhaps not the best) way to reply is to answer their question directly.

Then answer the question a second time.

Then, answer it again. And again. Try not to let your voice get sharper and your blood pressure higher. Try not to say, “You just ASKED that question, aren’t you LISTENING?” or “Why do you want to KNOW?” or “It’s TUESDAY, TUESDAY, TUESDAY!!!” (By that time, it may be Wednesday. You might have to check your calendar.)

But that’s just it. YOU can check your calendar with understanding. YOU can see what you need to do, where you need to go, who you need to call, what event is coming up that you need to prepare for.

They probably can’t.

How about that second question? It’s maybe a bit easier to keep your cool because you can answer it – at first – in a variety of ways. “Oh, honey, all you have to do is just sit there and look at your magazine.” “Oh, nothing. Just enjoy the sunshine.” “Right now, just finish your sandwich.” “Nothing! You aren’t supposed to be doing ANYTHING….Sweetheart.”

For a loved one who has worked hard all their life, been on a busy schedule with lots of responsibilities, to not have anything to do is frightening and worrisome.

What if they are forgetting something important? What if they are supposed to be some where and will get into trouble if they don’t show up? What if…?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve had only a little experience with questions like this. And I admit, I am not a good care giver. I’m not patient and kind, as the scripture says. Not long-suffering and slow to anger, as God is. Not loving and gentle, as Jesus was with the little children, which is what so many of our elderly are becoming like.

It’s so frustrating. It’s so heart-breaking.

While I was praying this morning and reading the Bible, God gave me some wonderful ANSWERS to those questions.

What day is this?

“This is the day that the LORD has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!” (Perhaps sing a song or two that they have known, or a simple chorus. Encourage them to sing along. If they are able, encourage them to get up and dance a few steps.)

This is the day of salvation! Let’s not harden our hearts against God, but say aloud all the wondrous things He has done for us, especially for saving us from our sin, by sending Jesus to die in our place!

(Say honestly and with sincerity, “Thank you, LORD!” Encourage them to think about what they are thankful for. This may be hard, but keep at it, give them hints.)

What am I supposed to be doing? I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing!
Here are some wonderful things from God’s Word that you can tell them they are “supposed to be doing” (as are all believers):

–Rejoice in the Lord. (Show them how!)

–Sing songs, hymns, choruses (aloud and to themselves).

–Pray for a friend (or an enemy or a missionary). You begin and let them pray too.

–Confess your sins to God. (Remind them He forgives.)

–Share (preach) the Gospel. (Have them tell their testimony – how they were saved – if only to YOU, it will be priceless, I promise, and they are sure to remember long ago events.)

–Praise (magnify) God for some of his attributes. (Loving, slow to anger, compassionate, powerful, kind, forgiving, healing, protecting.)

–Read the Bible. (If they can, or talk about familiar passages they might know or have memorized.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m encouraged by this. Maybe it won’t satisfy them in the long run, but I can turn some of these frustrating times (and annoying repetitive questions) into precious moments spent with a loved one, together with the LORD.

Forgetting and Pressing On

Jan1

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2016

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ~~~ Philippians 3:13-14

Sometime in the future I want to write a post on Forgetting and Remembering – the things that God forgets and the things we are to forget, and the things that God remembers and those we are to remember – but for now, on this first day of January in 2016, I want to write about FORGETTING and PRESSING ONWARD.

Yes, December 31st is always a good time to review the previous year, remembering what happened in those 365 days; how God used them to teach you, discipline you, encourage you, and grow you. A good way is to peruse your journals (if you keep them) or your prayer lists, or even your appointment calendar.

You will find that GOD has been faithful beyond any expectations, and that YOU have failed Him in many ways and at many times. But you will also find, if you have truly sought Him in prayer and Bible reading, that you are – with His omnipotent help – becoming more like Jesus.

In the opening scripture, that is just what the upward call of God IS – to be transformed more and more into the image of His Son.

So, today, on January 1st, resolve (if you make no other resolutions) to press on toward that “upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

How?

PRAY and ask God to give you a heart for Him; a humble, repentant, teachable heart. Ask Him to show you your sins and give you the strength by His Spirit to forsake them and not yield an inch to them…ever. Tell Him of your desire to love and know Him more. Ask Him to guide you every day, and then follow that guidance. IN everything and FOR everything, give thanks to Him (it’s a sacrifice of sorts, I know) for, if you truly want to follow Him, all those things are in His will for you, and will work for your good and for His glory.

READ the Bible a lot! Daily, several times a day. Listen to it being read and explained. Study it. Memorize it as God leads you. Ask Him to open the eyes and ears of your understanding so your knowledge of HIM will increase; not just intellectual knowledge (which brings pride), but heart knowledge (which will humble you). Long to truly know Him, as an intimate friend who will never leave you, as a dear Father who loves you unconditionally, as a constant companion to comfort and guide you, and as the savior of your eternal soul. Soak in the Words of His book. Sing them. Pray them back to God. Rejoice in them.

Where Do I Do My Banking?

Dec1

One day Jesus and His disciples were watching the offering box at the Temple. (Mark 12:41-44) As they watched, many rich people put in large amounts. (That’s good, right? The priests and their families need support, the Temple needs upkeep. The rich people need tax deductions.) I can imagine the disciples giving a group “thumb’s up” sign.

Then a poor widow woman put in two pennies. She took her little coin purse, turned it upside down, and shook out those last two coins. Or more likely…she carried them all the way from home in her hand, tucked under her shawl, having emptied the last of her earnings jar before she came. She probably slipped them into the box making no noise at all.

But, you may think, what can two pennies buy? Some people won’t even bend over to pick up a penny from the sidewalk. Perhaps the disciples shook their heads at the uselessness and sadness of such a small offering.

But Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”

Huh?

He continued, “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Jesus explained that the rich gave a percentage of what they had, while the widow gave all she had.

More actual cash from the rich men went into the Temple coffers, but more investment value from the widow reached Heaven’s treasury.

How strange is God’s bookkeeping. He considers things of lasting value, like heart generosity and sacrificial giving, more important than obligated giving. (Philippians 4:18*)

Yes, wise, carefully calculated donations are important, but God doesn’t really need our money. He owns everything (Psalm 50:10-12*). He can give us all we need or ever ask for from the vast riches He has. (Philippians 4:19*) God wants our heart. He loves a contrite heart, a poor-in-spirit, humble, depending-on-Him-alone heart. This He praises and rewards. This glorifies Him. (Psalm 51:16-17*, Matthew 5:3*)

“Man sees on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Lord, you see my heart. You see the discontent and greed and coveting that I hold dear, and You see the struggle I have to defeat those sins. You see my worldliness, my love of things, my stinginess. But You also see my desire to know and to love You foremost…to treasure You above everything.

Help me release to You all I hold dear, and give You my “last penny,” my future, my life… and then joyfully depend on You, O, Creator, Sustainer, and Owner of the universe and all that is in it. (Luke 12:32-34*)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Philippians 4:18 – “I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received …the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.”

*Psalm 50:10-12 – “For every beast of the forest is mine; the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”

*Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

*Psalm 51:16-17 – “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise.”

*Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

*Luke 12:32-34 – “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Using My Bible’s Concordance to Pray

Nov27

HAVE YOU EVER USED YOUR BIBLE’S CONCORDANCE as a source of Bible Study or Devotional?

I don’t mean to find a particular scripture you need, but to choose A WORD, then go down the list of references on that word in your Bible – one-by-one – and consider what God might say to you about your subject… for that day or week.

(You can also use a Topical Bible, such as Nave’s if you have one.)

Recently, I’ve been wanting my prayer life to be stronger, meatier. I’ve read a few books on how to do that and heard a few sermons. Then I decided to go to the Book of Books and see how God would instruct me there.

Using the concordance on my old KJV (which has many more references to subjects than the ESV version I read), I looked up the word PRAY, and beginning at the first one in the Old Testament, I read the referenced verse, then the surrounding verses in the passage.

I am amazed each time I do this to discover how and for what God wants me to pray. Thus far in the last couple weeks ( from Genesis, 1 Samuel, 2 Chronicles & Ezra), I’ve found:

1. pray for “good” people who need salvation (I listed a few friends who came mind.)

2. pray for believers struggling with sin in their lives (a few more listed – including myself)

3. pray for those who willfully sin and need discipline

4. pray for our country (America specifically) and the repentance and seeking God that needs to happen…beginning with believers.

5. pray for “the king & his sons” which I took to mean our president and his family. (I admit this is a hard one for me, but when I wrote down all their names, it got easier.) I begin by praying another verse from 3 John for them; “I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.”

I’m looking forward to what is next on the list – in a few days.

Does this sound like something YOU might like to do with prayer or perhaps with other subjects? I’d love to hear your journey.

	thechristiantechnerd on Journaling through the Bible C…
	Dr. Donald C Mccary on Journaling through the Bible C…
	Innerdialects on Journaling through the Bible C…
	Willie Torres Jr. on Journaling through the Bible C…
	Willie Torres Jr. on Journaling through the Bible C…

Morning Meditations

Beginning the day in God's Word