Deeper Than Devotions

By Laurie Ness

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17

"I had my devotions this morning" typically means I spent some time reading and meditating on a Bible passage and praying.  Sometimes called a "quiet time," this is a beneficial way to begin the day.  Really, any time of day will work.  Some people aren't morning people or have to be at work super early.  I'm pretty sure the main point with God is that we spend focused time with Him each day, not at a particular hour of the day.

Devotions sometimes also include a devotional book that has been written by a human, explaining how a Scripture verse or passage can be applied in our lives.  Often illustrated with stories or life experiences, the author seeks to encourage the reader to keep growing spiritually.

Devotions or quiet times are important.

But they don't replace regular Bible study.

What's the difference?  Bible study is a more intense look at a passage or book of the Bible.  We learn whatever we can about the historical background of the book and the author and first audience.  We examine the text closely and pick it apart, so to speak, looking up words in the original languages to find out their true meanings.  We look at cross-references and use the context and the remainder of Scripture to help interpret the passage we're studying.  Consulting commentaries written by Bible scholars can be beneficial as well.  And when studying with a group, there is the advantage of discussion.  Iron sharpening iron.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

Taking frequent periods of time to study the Bible gives us a better understanding of the true meaning of the words than simply reading and thinking about what we've read.  There's nothing wrong with devotional reading at all, but it's not sufficient for the spiritual growth that God wants to work in our lives.  The real "meat" of Scripture is in the deeper studying of it, and then obeying what we've learned.

There are so many lies being thrown around these days, some even well-spoken to appear as truth.  Studying God's Word helps us to recognize those lies and counter them with truth.  This is vital.  To believe a lie is to walk down a dangerous path.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.  Acts 17:11

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  Psalm 119:11

SGC provides a number of Bible study groups for women.  Check out the website to find out what is available.  Bible Study Fellowship has chapters in our area as well.  If you're like me and are in a period of your life where you need more time flexibility, there are online Bible study options for you.  You can use Google to find something, or ask around.  If you e-mail the address on the left, I'd be happy to give you some options I'm aware of.

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.  Hebrews 4:12

Devotions and Bible study are both important aspects of a healthy Christian walk!

To Belong

By Laurie Ness


"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."  1 John 3:1-2

On a recent "Girls' Afternoon Out," I saw the new movie, Annie.  Though the music was updated and the plot changed somewhat, the decades-old "Little Orphan Annie" message was still present. That sweet little girl and her friends had a deep desire for a permanent family--

--to belong.

Don't we all want to belong?  Even if we're not without parental love, there's still something more we've all craved.  Some of us have found and chosen it . . . Him . . . while others are still searching or running.

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."  John 1:12

Because life isn't like the movies.  To love means to sacrifice.  And even when we have come to truly belong to the best family ever--God's family--through faith in Jesus, sometimes we don't want to give what it takes to remain connected.

Like in an earthly adoption, just because we stray in some way doesn't mean we lose our place in the family, but fellowship can be broken or strained.

Thankfully, though, once we belong to God's family, we always belong.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. John 10:27-29

Such security that knowledge brings!  I've been reading and hearing a lot about foster care lately as one of the main characters in the new book I'm writing is a "foster kid."  Kids who go from home to home or who are abused in foster homes tend to feel deeply insecure and confused and displaced, for obvious reasons.  And that's how any person can feel before trusting Jesus as her Savior.

But adoption brings permanency, especially when we are adopted into God's family.  No one can take us away!  And God wants it that way!
So, remember, ladies, if you are a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, you belong.

Whether you are poor or rich, homeless or living in a mansion, have a large circle of influence or little . . . you belong.
Even if you are snubbed, ignored, gloated over, made fun of, oppressed . . . you belong.

And nothing can take you from His hand.

The Light, Our Light

By Laurie Ness

Depravity.  It courses through my veins, tempting me to do wrong.  It's what Adam awoke in the world when his teeth sank into the skin and flesh of that forbidden fruit.  Darkness of the soul was born and was destined to devour every future human heart.

It was determined to eat us alive.  Alive, but dead.

But then the Light came.  He gave up everything to which He had a right and emptied Himself to walk among, touch, serve, and teach hateful people.

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  John 1:4

People, though, even His own, did not accept or receive Him.  It had been foretold to them that He was coming and what He would be like.

But only a remnant chose to see Who He really was.

All the while, the darkness worked to deceive, entrap, and destroy.

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.  He was in the world, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and those were His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. John 1:9-11

The Light rescued us, me, from what we could never overpower on our own, because Light overpowers darkness.  It isn't possible for darkness to overpower Light.  Never has been.  Never will be.

This Light came to us as a wee baby in an animal dwelling.  He wasn't a mighty king in the way they expected.

Yet He was and is the mightiest of Kings.

Let us celebrate Him who saved us from the darkness of evil.  Let us take time to reflect on what we are capable of, the lowest depths we would cower in now had the Light not come to rescue us, and rejoice in the victory in which we are free to walk!

Happy Birthday, Jesus Christ, our Light!

No longer will you have the sun for light by day,
Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;
But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light,
And your God for your glory.
Your sun will no longer set,
Nor will your moon wane;
For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning will be over.   Isaiah 60:19-20

The Passive Gossiper

By Laurie Ness

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.  Proverbs 20:19

The "passive" gossiper.

That was me.

Oh, I'm sure over the years I have talked about people when I shouldn't have.  I felt convicted about that early on, and cut way down.  Like that makes it better.

But, several years ago, I realized that I was still participating in gossip, even when I wasn't saying a word.

I was listening.

People can't gossip without an audience.  The audience is just as guilty.

But I was more than happy to listen to the flapping gums.

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.  Proverbs 17:4

I've come to learn that the truth is this:  There's rarely a good reason to discuss with others anything about another person that would be embarrassing to that person for others to know, nor anything that person has told me in confidence.  It's not okay .  . . whether the person is struggling with something, or had a bad day, or is sinning, or has hurt me, or has said or done something I disagree with.  And it certainly isn't okay just because I want it to be okay!

Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.  Psalm 101:5

To tell others how someone has hurt me instead of going to that someone?  Cowardly.

To tell others about someone's mistakes or embarrassing circumstances?  Cruel.

To talk about someone because there's nothing else to talk about?  Lame.

To criticize someone behind his/her back?  Poison.

And listening to it perpetuates the problem.

Sometimes biblical discipline requires more than one person knowing about a situation, but, of course, even that is after a one-on-one conversation has not effectively served its purpose.

Words have a great deal of value and power, and, as I've learned the hard way over the years, we need to be so vigilant in how we use them.

Gossip can sneak up on us, and when it's over, we realize we didn't have our guard up.

But we still need to keep trying!

When He Called Her Name

By Laurie Ness



Mary Magdalene.  How she touches my heart.  When she reaches the tomb and finds her Jesus gone, she is so distraught.  I tear up whenever I read the account:

But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”
  
“They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.

 
Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”


Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”


Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”


Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.  (John 20:11-18, The Message)

Did you notice it was when He called her name that she recognized who He was?

Have you heard Him calling your name during this long, cold winter?  Mostly He speaks quietly.  He's not one to yell in order to gain attention.

Have we been too busy complaining about the cold and snow (which He has lovingly allowed) to hear Him?

Have we been drowning out His voice with activities and ventures?

Have we been stopping our ears with hatred, grudges, or bitterness?

Have we been trying to hide from Him behind some pet sin?

Yes, it's been a long, long winter.  As I write, it's almost the end of March, and it's snowing outside my window.

It probably seemed like a long, cold weekend for those who loved Jesus: to watch Him die, take Him down from that cross, prepare His body for burial, and leave His shell in that dark tomb.  It had to have been excruciating! Much worse than a long, long winter.

But then spring came!  He was alive!  I call it spring because spring is a season of hope and renewal and beautiful splendor.  Our hearts can live in spring all year long if we choose that, because of Jesus!

And spring weather is coming to us, sisters.  It's coming!  God promises spring will always follow winter as long as the earth endures (Gen. 8:22).  We can barely see signs of it, but they are there if we care to look.

Will we choose to open our "ears" to hear His voice calling our name?  Will we dare to turn to Him when we hear it, like our sister Mary Magdalene did?  Will we run to Him and cling to Him and then obey Him like she did?  No matter what He asks of us?

Let's allow our hearts to fully celebrate the Easter season, because we already know what Mary didn't at first:  He's alive!  And that means everything to us, even when we don't realize it like dear Mary did . . .

. . .  when He called her name.

A Dust Bunny and a Star

By Laurie Ness

God said to Abraham, "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted." Genesis 13:16

God also said to Abraham, at a later time, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them. . .So shall your offspring be." Genesis 15:5

So, Abraham couldn't even see every speck of dust or star in the sky that represented all his offspring, or descendants. Galatians 3 tells us that we as believers are sons of Abraham because of our faith. That means that perhaps his feet once trod on a speck of dust that represented ME! Or YOU! Better-sounding than a dust bunny, maybe on a long-ago evening, as Abraham gazed into a sky filled with shiny lights, he saw the very star representing ME! Or YOU!

Give yourself a minute to think about that! It's amazing, really.

We also learn in Romans 4 that Abraham's faith was credited to his "account" as righteousness. Though he did unrighteous things, his FAITH made him righteous in God's eyes. And, as believers and sons of Abraham, the same thing happens to us when we believe. We are so imperfect and do so many wrong things, but our FAITH is credited to us as righteousness just like Father Abraham! What a splendid work of Jesus! What He did was so complicated and has so many layers to it. But our part is simple. Just faith. We have nothing of our own to offer Him, but He gives us everything. WOW!

Of course, once we have that faith, we are responsible to live it out, amen? That's where it can become complicated for us. Our selfish nature wants to take over and puts up a good fight! But we are told that faith without works is dead. The works don't save us, but they are to be an evidence of our faith.

Is there something you have been feeling you should change? Do you feel a nudging from the Lord to do something you don't feel like doing or that you think is too hard? Is there a person who is difficult to love that you need to contact and encourage? Let's remember that our lives are really not about us. We were made to glorify the Lord! Let's be willing to be a Dust Bunny if necessary, even if we'd rather be a Star!

Less of me; more of You, Lord.

The Key of Self-Control

 By Laurie Ness

There's something God wants you (and me) to do.  I know that, because His Word says He's got something for every believer to do.  A goal to reach, a resolution to keep, a sin to conquer, a hardship to overcome . . . whatever it looks like in your life, it's always there, beckoning you.  Are you still going strong toward your goal, or have you fizzled out, or even lost hope?

Wherever you are in your journey, God is there with you, and He wants you to be/remain encouraged!  He wants you to stay the course and finish strong in the things He has impressed upon your heart to do.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  --Jer. 29:11

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  --Gal. 6:9

Whatever our goals are, there is something that we all need in order to reach them, but it's rarely talked about as something attainable:  self-control.  Unless our goals are to be everything God detests (and that wouldn't be true for anyone reading this, or . . . you wouldn't be reading it!), there will be roadblocks, temptations, or other difficulties that try to stop us.  Self-control is key to conquering these trials and continuing on the right path toward the finish line.

I'm thinking that there must not be anyone who exercises perfect self-control in every single area of her life, because then wouldn't there be a sinless person?  Yet self-control is clearly, according to His Word, something that God wants of us.  He even provides it as a fruit of the Spirit.  Most of us probably have areas where self-control comes easier than others.  The good news is that we can train ourselves, with the Lord's help, to build stronger "self-control muscles" in all areas of our lives!

The Lord offers us encouragement and instruction in His Word to get us started and keep us going!

Let's define our goals.  It's hard to go anywhere without a destination in mind and some sort of plan to get there!  We need to take some time to listen to what the Lord wants us to work on and decide on the best steps to accomplish it.  Writing it down makes it more concrete and gives us something to refer to when the going gets rough.

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’" --Luke 14:28-30

A plan is a good thing!

Let's fill our minds.  Inspirational quotes from "successful" people can be great encouragement, but where better to learn about self-control than from the Bible?  Let's read it, study it (join a Bible study?), meditate on it, write it on cards to place in strategic places around our homes, and . . . hardest of all, but achievable . . . memorize it!  The more we dwell on the truth of self-control, the more it may come naturally to us in time.

"How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts, therefore I hate every wrong path.  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." --Psalm 119:103-105

Let's rely on the Lord's strength.  He offers us the tools.  His Word;  access to Him anytime, anywhere, through prayer;  a way out when temptation tries to sway us away from our goals.  We always have a choice whether or not to utilize what He provides for us.

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."  --Galatians 5:16

Let's take the focus off ourselves.  I remember the first line of a chorus we sang in church when I was a kid, "Let's forget about ourselves and magnify the Lord and worship Him."  That's all I remember of the song, but those few words have a huge meaning!  Our lives as believers are not meant to be about us.  Our lives are meant to be an act of worship to our Lord.  That means saying "No" when we don't feel like it, because we know HE wants to say no, or saying "Yes" to something He does want us to do, even if we're afraid or uncomfortable.  He rules!  We need to choose to get over ourselves.  Ouch!

"Then he said to them all:  'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?'"  --Luke 9:23-25

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship."  --Romans 12:1

Let's find a buddy.  Accountability strengthens self-control.  We weren't meant to live our lives in solitude.  Let a trusted friend or family member in on your goals, and ask them to check in with you every so often.  Somehow, knowing that a buddy will be asking us about our progress helps keep us focused and on track.

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."  --James 5:16

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! . . . And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken."  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12

Let's stand up and keep walking when we fall.  We all fall!  Repeatedly.  And we will continue to during our time on this earth.  But our falling isn't an excuse to wallow.  We need to pick ourselves up quickly, talk with the Lord (and anyone else affected) about our mistake, put it behind us, and move on!  Wallowing, lingering guilt, stagnancy--none of these are from the Lord!  If our goals are from Him, He wants us to reach them.  We can only strengthen self-control if we choose to learn from our mistakes instead of using them as an excuse to remain weak.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."  --Hebrews 12:1-3

Self-control is a difficult virtue, but vital for reaching our goals. It usually entails a sacrifice of some sort, but the sacrifice is always worth what is gained.  No matter how many times we may have failed in the past, the Lord does not want us to give up training ourselves to be self-controlled.  Do you have other hints or insights in developing self-control?  Consider helping out your sisters by commenting in the comments section below! :)