Things I'm Loving Lately

 By: Lauren Thomas

Have you seen influencers post their “10 Things I’m Loving Lately”? While many influencers create these posts with the aim to sell something, others use it to show who they are or to document what they have been enjoying. One such post I saw recently wasn’t an “ad post” with “affiliate links.” Instead, it was a simple list that sounded a lot like gratitude. 

 

I was immediately inspired to start tracking and documenting 10 things from my week that I enjoyed!

 

And I struggled to think of one.

 

Yikes.

 

I’ve been busy lately. Overwhelmed. Facing lots of changes and challenges. And I’ve let negativity permeate my thoughts and speech. My inability to list a gratitude shone a spotlight on something I had felt a gentle conviction over.

 

Ironically – actually, when it’s the Lord, do we call it that? – my pastor used 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that Sunday.

 

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

 

Okay, I hear you, Lord.

 

So, this week, I’m trying to pay attention. I’m trying to rejoice in that “thing I’m loving.” I’m trying to thank God for it, even if it’s small or something brief. And I’m also trying to document it. I take a picture with my phone, or I write it down in my journal. Here’s what I’ve got for this week:

 

1. My morning walk in nature! Sun, green, solitude, exercise.
2. Sunbathing! Though it’s been a rainy week, whenever we have some sunshine, I try to sit outside in the sun for a few minutes. Being outside and soaking up the vitamin D feels so right. 
3. My progress with weight lifting. I am thankful for a healthy body that I can push to grow new muscle. I am thankful for strength.
4. Sudoku! My newest obsession. I recently learned to play, and it has been a fun way to unwind.
5. Grabbing coffee and doing a nature hike with my best friend and our kids. We were made in a garden, so it makes sense we feel closest to our Creator in nature.
6. My garden! I planted a small perennial garden this year, and just this week, some of the flowers have started to bloom. 
7. Discipling my children. We are memorizing 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18 together along with learning some Bible trivia this summer.
8. Napping in my hammock [a rare treat indeed!].
9. Reading fiction [especially in my hammock].
10. Birdwatching. Robins in the birdbath. Hummingbirds at the feeder. A goldfinch on my thistle feeder. The blue flash of a bluebird on my morning walk.

And just like that, I feel more optimistic. And I feel at peace knowing I’m in God’s will for my life when I’m living in gratitude.

 

Reflection:

Make your own list of “Things I’m Loving Lately.” Is it hard or easy to write that list? How do you feel after completing it? 

Cord of Three Strands | Part 1

By: Jenifer Metzger

Has your marriage been hard lately? Does if feel like you and your husband are being attacked on every end? Do you wonder if the two of you are even going to make it? Friend, marriage is hard period, but the enemy is after your marriage. The enemy is working double time to attack marriages, especially Christian marriages.

When we enter into marriage, there are three parts: you, your husband, and God. As you marry, these three parts become closely braided together. But when marriage gets hard, we have to pause and ask ourselves one very important question; has the third strand been pulled out?

And if someone overpowers one

person, two can resist him. A cord

of three strands is not easily broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 CSB

When we are knit together, all three parts, we are strong, not easily broken. But when that third strand -God- is pulled out, we are weak, open for attack.

A few years back my husband came a little too close to major injury, even death, all because of a weakened rope. He works construction, often on tall buildings, and he takes every precaution he can including being tied off. But one day a strand in his rope broke. This broken strand caused the rope to become weaker and weaker, almost completely breaking in two. Had he not caught it, he could have fallen to his death minutes later.

Friends, that third strand, God, is vital, life saving even, to your marriage. If your marriage is missing the third strand, it is time to rebraid it and add God back in.

Come back next week for part two where we talk about how to put God back into your braid.

Discussion:
1. Think about your marriage lately. Has there been an attack? Is the enemy kicking you and your husband hard?
2. Now think of your cord. Is there three strands: you, your husband, and God? Or has one of the strands been removed?

Ward Off Distractions

 By: Joanne Viola

Nehemiah. It’s a most interesting Old Testament book written by an interesting man. No matter how many times one may have read the book, we can never exhaust all that is to be gleaned from his life.

Who was Nehemiah?

He was a cupbearer to the king, a prestigious position during those days. But he was more. Nehemiah was an organizer, a man with a plan and determined to carry out the plan. He was a man of faith and prayer, encouraging the people to draw strength from God. And he worked alongside the people.

So what was the project and the plan?

While the temple had been rebuilt, the walls surrounding the city were still in ruins. Nehemiah had a plan to rebuild and restore the wall. Constantly met with opposition from the enemy, the task seemed insurmountable.

Nehemiah’s enemies were constantly taunting the people. Hurling insulting remarks to discourage them from the daily work on the wall.

The enemy today is no different than the enemy of that day. He works to destroy, distract, discourage, and/or deceive.

Nehemiah’s enemies called him to meet with them. But he recognized their scheme for what it was – a distraction.

And so he replied:

So I sent messengers to them, saying, 
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. 
Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 
(Nehemiah 6:3, NASB)

That verse has stayed with me for a few days. Perhaps it should even be our response when met with distractions.

God calls each of us to do varied things over the course of our lives. Some may seem bigger or more important than others, but they all matter when God has put them before us.

God’s Word is truth. It does not change and it is the Word we can depend upon for guidance, for encouragement, and for strength. God’s Word is powerful and when we speak His Word, we are filled with hope and strength for what He has called us to do. His Word dispels the enemy. And sure, the enemy will return, much the way they returned to taunt Nehemiah time and again, and so we need to read and use His Word every day.

“Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.” 
(Psalm 119:37, NASB)

“May you walk so intimately with God that you’re acutely aware of your value and divinely aware of your calling.”

(from Prevail by Susie Larson, page 121)

Don’t let yourself be distracted.
Walk intimately with God,
and stay aware of your value and your calling.

 

Reflection:
What distractions tend to draw your focus away from the Lord?
What can you do to keep yourself focused?

 

Image by Aritha from Pixabay

 

Get Back Up

 By: Lauren Thomas 

My grandpa was a pastor. My pastor. I sat in the congregation and listened to hundreds and hundreds of his sermons through my childhood and adolescence. He passed away several years ago, after a prolonged illness that robbed his ability to speak. And yet, some of the verses he frequently used still live in my mind with his memory. One such verse is Proverbs 24:16:

 

for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,

but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Proverbs 24:16 NIV

 

With this verse, he used the illustration of boxing. And while boxing was – and continues to be – a metaphor that holds little meaning for me, this verse stuck. It stuck because I watched my grandpa live it out. 

This verse describes those who fall but rise again, as being righteous. To me, it seems that a better descriptor might be, “the persevering,” “the enduring,” “the tenacious.” But no, it says, “the righteous.” 

 

Could there be a correlation?

 

My grandpa was a man who I would describe as tenacious. He had what you might call “sticktoitiveness.” Time and again, like the verse, I witnessed “calamity” striking him and his family. But he always got back up. Always went back to work. Always.

 

When tragedy struck, he got back up.

 

When dissension and disunity plagued his congregation, he got back up. 

 

When he was stolen from, he got back up. 

 

When times were uncertain, he got back up. 

 

This is what the righteous man does. This is what the righteous woman does. This is what the righteous do. They get back up. And that is what sets them apart from the wicked.

 

What about your life?

 

Have you faced a devastating loss? Get back up.

 

Have you succumbed to that same sin struggle? Get back up.   

 

Has change that was out of your control, upended your life? Get back up.

 

Has a diagnosis stolen your hope and peace? Get back up. 

Have you been wounded, betrayed, rejected? Get back up. 

 

Why? Because Romans 5:3-5 explains that suffering produces endurance, which produces character, which produces a hope that does not disappoint. 

 

Why get back up? Because that’s what the righteous person does. 

 

Reflection:

Are there any people in your life who illustrate Proverbs 24:16? What can you learn from their example? 

What setback, sin, disappointment, or suffering do you need to “get back up” from? What is God producing in you through that suffering?

Our Part, Then His

By: Jenifer Metzger

And My people, who bear My

name, humble themselves, pray

and seek My face, and turn from

their evil ways, then I will hear

from heaven, forgive their sin,

and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 CSB

God gives us clear direction in 2 Chronicles 7:14. He tells us that we have some actions steps to take before He does His part.

We must:
•bear His name
•humble ourselves
•pray
•seek His face
•turn from evil

After we do those things, then He will:
•hear us
•forgive us
•heal us

We often expect God to hear our prayers, forgive our sins, or heal our illness before we do any of our part. We continue living in sin and we fail to truly seek Him, yet we expect God to hear us. But let's notice that four letter word in this verse: then. We do our part, then God will do His.

However, if you turn away and abandon

My statutes and my commands that I have

set before you and if you go and serve

other gods and bow in worship to them,

then I will uproot Israel from the soil that

I gave them, and this temple that I have

sanctified for my name I will banish from

My presence; I will make it an object of

scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

2 Chronicles 7:19-20 CSB

But then we look at verse 19 and see an important word there too: however. However if we don't bear His name, humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our evil ways, if we abandon His ways and His commands, not only will God not do His part, but He clearly tells us there will be punishment.

We have to stop expecting God's hand of blessing in our country when we have so much vile evil going on. We have to stop expecting God's hand of blessing in our marriage when we fail to put God at the center and treat our spouse so poorly. We have to stop expecting God's hand in our finances when we fail to honor God with our money and obediently pay out tithe. We have to stop expecting His hand of blessing when we are not doing what He commands us to do!

Friend, it is time to closely look at our lives. Are we truly bearing His name, humbling ourselves, praying, seeking Him, and turning from evil? Are we truly living by His Word and commands? Or are we floating through life doing the "bare minimum" and sitting here waiting on God's blessings to rain down?

Discussion:

1. Closely look at different situations in your life. Is there an area where you haven't done your part according to 2 Chronicles 7:14?
2. Today commit to truly living this verse out and doing your part before God.