Unwrap God's Gift

It’s Christmas time, lots of busy days ahead. Set back relax and read the book of Mark. You heard me right: no nativity story to speak of but, the story of Jesus, God’s gift we’re celebrating this season. What’s a present if you never unwrap it? It’s full of miracles and good news- God loves us very, very much. This has only 15 chapters; so I think even the busiest of you can work this into your month. Where have we been so far? If you have faithfully read all the books of the Bible I've suggested (19) you’ve gotten through nearly 1/3 of them. I’ve also recommended 12 chapters of various books-two that I used as memory work. Give yourself a gold star for this much. The Bible is a very big book! When our Wednesday night youth leaders asked for favorite memory verses, they got enough for 4 years!. They meet every week: I only write once a month! There’s lots more gold to be found. Memory verses are a stockpile you’re saving up for a rainy day. Remember Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Keep Jesus in your hearts too as you go through this busy time; Woops, that is the same thing. Just check it out in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God.” That’s this month memory verse. If you’ve kept up on your memory verses, you will have committed to memory 27 bits of the Bible. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised when one of them comes to mind in a moments notice to let you know God loves you and is watching out for you. There’s lots more of God’s word to be mined and put to memory. Just keep reading it. “Our journey continues too.”

A Prophet's Story

Halloween is just over, so how about we talk about "Dem Bones?" It's a catchy
tune and a really "grab you" storyline. You just have to read Ezekiel; it's one rockin'
book! This prophet was a real crowd pleaser in his day for proof read Ezekiel 33:30-33.
Actually I'd like for you to read the whole book.
We've already got a musical going here with "Ezekiel Saw The Wheel" as the first
song. Zeke really needed a big vision to start him off on God's task. In chapters 2 and
3 he is commisioned as a watchman for his people. God straight up tells him: They
aren't going to listen--and he will lead a life of hardship! I don't know about you, but
that vision of the wheel is going to have to keep replaying in my head to keep on with
God's work.
God has one idea He's trying to get through to the people. He Is God--and nobody
else is! Count how many times the words "They shall know that I am God." can be
found in this book. Check with me or a commentary for the answer.
Ezekiel did his job. From his days forward the Jewish people are no longer idoloters.
For your memory verse I'm taking verses from Daniel; he was sending the same
message to a certain king, who then sent it out to his entire kingdom.
Daniel 6:26-27 (New International Version)"I issue a decree that in every part of my
kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God
and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never
end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and
on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
Towards the end of Ezekiel there is a vision of "The River Of Life"That is like God
showing Ezekiel the promise of his future healing of all his pains through life. A
vision much like this is in Revelations 22:1-2.
May you all read your bibles and get to trust in God as much as Ezekiel and Daniel.
They were and will be rewarded.

In Times of Trouble

A friend gave me this quote"The soul would have no rainbows, if the eyes had no tears."
Has your whole world fallen apart lately? You feel totally miserable; You want to yell at God "Why me? It's just not fair!"We all get there sometimes. That's why I think it makes sense to put this in right after I talked about joy.It's only as we get through life's troubles that we become stronger, hopeful and yes joyfull.
You might expect me to be taking verses from Job. We all know he went through a
lot of troubles; but his advice is only by his example.If you are having problems
with gossips or misinformation about you; check out the last chapter. God has a
word with Job's well meaning friends.
Now for the verse to learn, go to Psalms 27:10."Even if my father and mother
abandon me, the Lord will take care of me." Wow! Imagine how miserable you
would be if that happened. Isn't it great to know how much God cares?
David was in God's care as he ran from king Saul for many years.As a poet he
was always writing his heart on paper for us to see. That makes him someone
who holds your hand as you go through your trials. God is there for us too; but he
knew we could identify with David easier. Wasn't that great?
Try reading the rest of chapter 27, Then check out chapters 6 and 42.I had a hard
time choosing which of these to use for the memory verse. The bible's full of good
stuff, so just keep reading!

Staying Joyful

I've been watching my 2 year old grandson chasing butterflies in the back yard. What pure joy he seems to have! Where is the adult who is joyful about such simple things?
After all God does such big stuff--like making the whole world; the universe even!! And
we, as adults seem to sit back bored with Him!
Where is our awe? Where is our sense of fear and trembling? Do we need a miracle
every day to keep our doubts and boredum away?
Looking in the Bible I found one big miracle in Ephesians 2:8. As a christian I call this
my everyday miracle. It's a real reason to be joyful.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." There's your memory verse, I'm
very joyful over this one thought!
Psalm 16:11 is another good one, "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence
is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
There were two short easy verses I still hadn't looked up, and this is where I got
surprized by God and hopefully learned something.When I read that in Nehemiah,
Ezra was encouraging the somber people, after they heard the law read and explained to them. Nehemiah 8:10 "...Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your
strength."
Another one is "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice." Phil 4:4
This is from Paul after many years as a prisoner! Our joy comes from the inside
out! Read all of Philipians and Ephesians. and learn those verses, keep putting
God's word on the inside. Just read it.

God's Children

We've just finished another VBS and what do you think it reminded me of? We are
all children of God-just different ages. No matter how old you may seem to someone else, with God you will always be his little child.For example,everytime I remember this story; I'm 12 years old.
It was catecism class and the pastor took out a little walnut with a crank on the side.
As he turned the crank he said "Come let us reason together says the Lord. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be as crimson,
they shall be as wool." A little ribbon came out of the nut changing colors as the
words said. It made it easy to memorize Isaiah 1:18. Now you can too.
We all struggle with sin,trying to be perfect and always failing. This verse is God
telling us "Let me help. I can fix it." What will happen when we let God help? Read
Isaiah chapter 12; it tells how you will feel when you let Him lead and guide you.
Did you ever notice that most of the bible is simple stories;things we can all relate
to and understand? God is way over our heads but he tells us about himself in the
simplest most ordinary way.That's because He's our loving father-our daddy. What
a wonderful thought!
Ephesians 6:1-4 has God's family guidelines. That's the kind of Dad He is and we
can strive for. Now for your reading this month, let's try 1st and 2nd Timothy. It
fits my theme because Paul considered himself the spiritual father of Timothy. Read
it with this in mind.
Those of you who are young can look for the verse that starts "Let no man despise your youth." And those of us who think we're getting old - We never get old with God!
See you next month, and just keep reading it!

Just Shorts

It’s hot weather- time for shorts, so this month I’m getting out the Bible shorts. That’s right. God put shorts in the Bible. He thinks of everything! For a quick read here’s a list of Bible books you can finish in a short time, I’m putting them in alphabetical order so you’ll have to hunt a little to find them all. Here goes:

Amos Habakkuk James
Joel 1 John 2 John
3 John Jonah Jude
Lamentations Malachi Nahum
Philemon Ruth Titus

Consider this a sampler pack of what’s in the Bible, not complete, but certainly varied. Cross off what you get read, and then pat yourself on the back at the end of the month. Oh, and your memory verse is John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” That is the shortest verse in the Bible. Start with those you know and then sample the others. Remember to…Just Read it!

Pack your Bible

By the time you read this I will have been to Georgia and back, and will be packing for my next trip. So my message for this month is "It's your bible. Don't leave home without it!"
Just as I take certain medications everyday to stay healthy; reading my bible is the same sort of thing. Jesus said "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God." Look it up in Matthew 4:4. Or you may want to start reading at chapter 3 and continue on to Jesus' early ministry.
As a small child I developed an odd habit. Whenever I was sent to my room I would read in my bible. I'm sure I was looking for some way to prove Mom was wrong and I was right.That never happened. But if I read my bible; the words somehow calmed
me down and made the situation better.
For travelling I've come up with "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105. Now why do you need both a lamp and a light? Well, you need to see close up so you don't stumble(that's the lamp) and far away so you keep in mind where you're going ahead of you(that's the light). Many of us are either farsighted
or nearsighted. The optomitrist corrects our eyes so we have both far and near vision.
God's word is there to correct our spiritual vision if we just read it. See you next month.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

I’ve been searching for the right idea for this month’s article. Then I looked around at how beautiful everything is in nature. In the last month we have gone from the bleakness of winter to glorious spring! There’s one set of verses that fits the bill. Actually, it’s an entire chapter – Psalm 23 My 5th and 6th grade Sunday School class memorized it, so you can too. Even after all these years, I can still recite the King James Version pretty close. I may skip a verse, but I’ve gotten the main idea, that’s what it’s all about. And in my own words- God is in charge of my world He takes care of all I need. I’ll be alright because He has my hand. I am blessed beyond measure and will live with God forever. Wow! How often do we need reminded that God is in His heaven and all’s right with the world? These words do it. For the less ambitious, you could memorize Psalms 117. It’s only 2 verses! Read along in the Psalms, it’s some of the best there is!

God's Amendment

Get your bible out now. You have to look up my verses as you read along this time.
The bible is divided into a New Testament and an Old Testament. Testament means
a binding agreement. God started out with one agreement and then made major
improvements.The old Testament is a lot of family history-with God's promises of a better agreement to come sprinkled into the stories.
This next scripture is so complete a picture of the new agreement God has made
with us that you can read it in two places, either in Jeremiah 31:31-34 or in Hebrews
8:8-12. It's like God completely explains the new testament for us! That is to say you
and I not the disciples.
Jesus was telling of the coming of this new agreement in the story of the vineyard,
Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12 or Luke 20:9-19. Pick your favorite gospel for
this reading.
Too often we just see these verses as a warning to the Pharisees. Look again at
this story. It is also preparing the minds of the disciples to understand God's
New agreement.
We have the advantage of hindsight and thousands of years of Christianity. That's
why we don't see that it took weeks of prayer and waiting to understand what God
had just put into place as the new covenant between man and God.
The after the Resurrection party didn't happen for 50 days. Instead a growing group
of saddened, confused, uncertain and totally shocked followers huddled up to
pray and seek understanding of all that had just happened.
They may have been afraid of the authorities both Roman and Jewish; but then
they would have realized-Jesus has conquered death! We have nothing to fear.
They may have prayed the Lord's prayer." Father forgive us as we forgive others."
Were the disciples asking themselves,"Could I forgive this much? How can this
be?" Jesus, the son of God, has conquered sin! And that's when the party started.
Many of you know this month's memory verse by heart, John 3:16. Read it anyway;
every word of it is important.
See you next month and keep reading your bible. God is someone exciting to know.

Correcting Me

This month's memory verse has been really hard for me to deal with. It's really
about finger pointing, or maybe about speaking before you put your mind in gear.
Go to Luke 6:41 and you'll see what I mean.
"Why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer's eye and not notice
the wooden beam in your own eye?"
What a rediculous picture this paints! I see a barn beam in the way as I"m reaching
with tweezers to get that little speck out of Bob's eye. God has a lot to laugh
about watching us. He is the only one who is perfect.
I've sat through a lot of sermons mentally correcting everyone I know. You know
how this works. As I listen to the ideas I should be taking to heart for myself, I"m
saying "Bob should listen to that." or "Mom should hear this." Never once do I
let those little God bullets get me. I should be hearing them ricochet off the pews
beside me!
The one person we must deal with first is our first person-me. Lent is a special
time set aside to do just that, to study and pray so that God may finish the work He has begun in you.
Words are too cheap, too easy to spit out in anger, or percieved wisdom. Pray in
all you do. Walking the walk should come first. When you pray listen for His answers,
allow God to correct and perfect.
Read Acts, chapters 1 & 2 for the stirring account of what prayer played in the
early church. Yep, that's where all the power comes from to change the whole
world one soul at a time.

God's Love the Real Thing

Love love love, all you need is love.Those are the opening words to an old
Beatles song. Well maybe they're right. Since February has Valentines
Day, what else could I write about?
One of our first memory verses is "God is love." 1 John 4:16. That isn't all of
it, but the idea is all the same. You might want to read all of 1st John; it's
all about love. In fact the whole bible is just one big love letter to us. God just
put something in for everybody's taste in reading.
Woops, back to the topic. God's love is better than anything else. We can try
to measure up, but will fall short every time. The old testament tells of the
Israelites attempts over thousands of years. When it comes to being good,
we have met the enemy and they are us.
Next memory verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life." The Israelites were there to tell the story and try to
help us get it right; but then God said whosoever believes.gets the prize!
Paul has lots of help for us humans on how to love as God loves. Try 1 Corinthians
chapter 13. It tells us love never gives up. I for one am really glad; I'm still
not getting it right. Thank God he knows my heart. Read about that and
learn 1 Samuel 16:7
It's between you and God to stay the right course. See you next month
and keep reading your bible!

The Tall Order

It's the beginning of a brand new year. Have you made your New Year's Resolutions yet? Well this month I've found the ultimate New Year's Resolution. Go to Micah, (towards the end of the old testament); now find chapter 6 verse 8. To remember this
location 6' 8" is very tall and this is one very tall order.
Micah is apparently visiting with an angel, because in almost all the translations I've found he is addressed as mortal or human or something like that. This is one verse
I would like to encourage you to look up in several translations. Everytime something is translated it gets a slightly different flavor to it. Here I give you the Revised Standard Version:
He has showed you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Many complain about all the rules and regulations, but look how simply God's law
can be condensed! In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus replies with only two commandments,saying that all the law and prophets depend on them.Again in John 13:34 we are given one new commandment to love each other as he loved us, also a very tall order.While you're looking up these, don't forget the ten commandments-Exodus 20:1-20 and Deuteronomy 5:1-22. Please memorize all that you can of God's instuctions and be ready to teach not only your children as in
Deut:6:1&2, but any who will ask. See you next month for another Just Read It.