101 Wednesdays, Week 5

This week in 101 Wednesdays, we studied the life of King David. From his childhood, to his encounter with Goliath, to his prolific song writing.

In answering the first homework question, my mind went straight to the election. The prophet Samuel goes on God's direction to find the new king. He assumes one of David's older, more handsome brothers is the choice God has made. But God tells Samuel, "I have rejected him. Man looks at the outside appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." The question read: How do you observe this same truth at work in our world today?

It made me think of how we evaluate those who are vying to be our nation's leaders. We often judge their outward appearance, perhaps because it is so hard to evaluate their hearts. We have become skeptical of all politicians, haven't we? Dishonesty is so rampant that we are left to resort to more superficial criteria when making a choice.

I was also reminded that even though we cannot see their hearts, the Lord most certainly can. And does. I'm SO THANKFUL for that, aren't you? I trust that God knows what He's doing in the upcoming election, and while I will step in and cast my votes, I can pray for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven regardless of my limited understanding of what's best for our country.

Did you get a chance to flip through the book of Psalms and notice how many David has written? (It says "A Psalm of David" at the top of those he wrote.) And they are not just poems, you know. They are songs. He was a great musician. I love how his songs speak to so many different emotions and experiences. So many were clearly written in his pain and questioning, and yet so many were written full of joy in his victories. There may be a Psalm for every occasion to encourage us on our journeys too.

Well, this week, we wrap up the Old Testament in the Jesus Storybook Bible. I'm so excited about these next stories. The first one, on Namaan's healing, was the story on which Beth Moore spent our whole weekend teaching when I saw her a couple weeks ago in Long Beach. (I still need to share with you some more goodness about that weekend!)

For now, here is the homework for the week. Sorry I'm a few days late getting it up!


Week 5


Chapters 17-21, to page 175

Jesus Storybook Bible
1. Read 2 Kings 5:10. What EXACTLY did Elisha the prophet tell Namaan to do? Think about that. Now, WHY would God require this seemingly unnecessary repetition when we know He could have healed Namaan with one dip in the water? As a reader of this story hundreds of years later, what does this tell you about the relationship between repetition and healing?

2. The next chapter we learn about talks about Isaiah the prophet. There were many prophets, but Isaiah is my favorite. Some of the chapters contain my favorite passages in the whole Bible. Read Isaiah chapters 40 and 41 in your spare time on a quiet morning or evening. You may recognize many famous verses in those chapters. Write down a few that speak to you personally.
3. Daniel is another very long and complex book of prophecy. But it also includes the wonderful story of his time in the lions’ den. What is one lesson we can learn from this story when we are persecuted for our faith?
4. Next we come to poor, rebellious little Jonah. Share at least one of the following:

• A time when you knew the obedient choice, but went the other way

• A time when you felt angry and unforgiving to someone who didn’t deserve forgiveness

• A time when God saved you from worse consequences than you deserved
5. Knowing God’s standards is meant to bring conviction which leads to repentance and receiving forgiveness. But often, we take it a step further and let in guilt. Guilt is NEVER God’s plan for us. Guilt keeps us stuck and sorry, instead of joyful and hopeful that we are forgiven and have the power to change. Take a minute to pray, like God’s people did in Nehemiah chapter 9. Confess your tendency to wallow in guilt and forget about God’s huge love and forgiveness. Ask Him to teach you the healthy way to deal with your mistakes, and tell Him about your desire to follow Him.

 

101 Wednesdays, Week 4

Well, after a few days of having a heavy heart for an unexplainable reason, today I woke up joyful. In the words of Rapunzel and the song that keeps going through my head this morning, "At last I've seen the liiiiight, and it's like the fog has lifted..." Sing it, ladies. You know you love it too.

So are you following along in our study here? What do you think so far? Did you love reading about Moses and freeing the Israelites from Egypt? Exodus is one of my favorite books of the Bible.

This past Wednesday, when I met with the ladies in our face-to-face study, we agreed to slow up the pace a bit and go deeper into the stories instead of moving so quickly. So we will have fewer chapters to read in the JSB so we can turn more to our regular Bibles. That way, you also get practice in using it, finding things, and becoming more familiar with it in general.

I really want you to grow not only in knowledge, but also in comfort with using God's word as a tool. If you're learning to sew, using a sewing machine seems difficult and overwhelming at first. But over time as you practice and learn how all the parts work together, it becomes an indispensable tool. It's no wonder so many of us have left our sewing machines as well as our Bibles in a closet to collect dust. They are both complex, but unlike a sewing machine, the words in your Bible really do have the power to change your life.   


Week 4
Chapters 14-16, through p. 135
Jesus Storybook Bible

1. This week, we'll look at the person of King David. He is the only person in the Bible to earn the description "a man after God's own heart." He was loved by the Lord, used by the Lord, and stood as a forerunner of Jesus in many ways. Yet, at times, David's life was a total mess. He was a man of great faith and great failures.

Our first story is about how he was chosen by God to be King. Look up 1 Samuel 16 in your Bible. The prophet Samuel was supposed to find the king among many brothers in one family. Naturally, he went to the oldest, strongest brother and asked the Lord if this was to be he. Read verses 6-7. What does it say God uses as his criteria? What about man's criteria? How do you observe this same truth at work in our world today?

2. It is a surprise that David is chosen because he is only a boy and the youngest in a long line of brothers. The next glimpse we see of David is on the battlefield with Goliath. He was not a soldier, and the Philistines were Israel's greatest enemy. Look up 1 Samuel chapter 17 in your Bible to find the whole story. Read verses 45-49. In verse 48, what was David's reaction when Goliath started to advance at him? Now think about the giants in your life. What is your typical response to them? What would that kind of courageous faith look like for you?

3. Finally, the JSB takes us to the Psalms, which is another word for songs. David was a prolific songwriter and a great musician, did you know that? Go to your Bible and flip through the Psalms. You'll notice that many Psalms have the words "A Psalm of David" at the start of it. Find one that particularly speaks to your heart and write it out (or the portion that means most to you) in your notebook. Briefly share why you chose the one that you did.

4. If you want to learn more about David and his biggest failures, read 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12 in your Bible. Among being an unbelievable warrior, leader, loving king, and man of faith, he was also an adulterer, murderer, and liar. Because of his great sin, God took the life of his child born through his adultery. But in amazing grace, God brought redemption to David's mistakes by blessing his later marriage to the same woman, Bathsheba (he had killed her husband, after all), and giving them Solomon for a son. Solomon came to be known as the wisest man who ever lived, and succeeded David on the throne. If you look in your Bible's table of contents, you'll see that after the Psalms comes Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. All three of these books were written by King Solomon. What does this legacy tell you about what God can do with, and in spite of, a person's shameful past?


Have a great weekend, friends!

Tomorrow, I'm posting something I realized I never put up on my own blog but appeared on Casey's a few months back for my mentoring series. It can be a little weekend read. Next week, I hope to share more of what I learned from Beth Moore last weekend. You all had such an amazing response to my first post on the weekend. It makes me so thankful for teachers like Beth, anointed to bring us God's living, active words that cut through our hearts right to what matters most. I hope and pray I have one ounce of her influence and her gift of teaching in my life. It is truly such a gift and I'm in awe every time I hear her. I think because I know it's so not her. I have no temptation to idolize Beth Moore because it's so clear to me that she is just a mouthpiece, just a willing and humble tool being used by God for mighty and powerful work.

He is such a generous God to speak to His children as He does.

101 Wednesdays, Week 3

So are you following along?

Last week in 101 Wednesdays, we looked at areas of our lives where God is perhaps asking us to believe in the impossible, like He did Abraham. We looked at how hard it is to understand how God sees us compared to how we see ourselves, and how we resist believing He calls us chosen and beautiful when our shortcomings haunt us. Leah was no stranger to this identity crisis, and we read about her story too. Then there was Joseph. He had the worst series of unfortunate events happen in his life maybe ever. Yet God saw the bigger picture, and was coordinating circumstances to bless Joseph and redeem his past way beyond what anyone could have guessed.

Each week, I pray our hearts are softening to different ways of seeing God and seeing ourselves. If you've been following, don't you agree that after you spend time reading and processing, it's like your spirit does a big sigh of relief? That's how I feel, anyway.

So this week, I've pasted the assignment below. I got a little flack for writing "hard" questions. But guys, this is the point. Not to confuse or frustrate you, but to encourage you to look inside your heart. Bring your issues to the table. Let God into your struggles. I want to make this short time each week worthwhile. It's not another activity to check off. It's meant to be powerful and equipping for our everyday lives. I really want for you to get a glimpse of how deeply God loves you and how relevant the Bible is to your life. Nothing else you spend time on during the week (unless you're going to church, I suppose) can fill you up in the same way. So yeah. The questions will make you think. Not sorry :)

Have a great weekend, friends.

* * *

This week, I'm asking you to look up three verses in a regular Bible. Do you have one? If not, I suggest picking one up in an easy to read, modern language translation such as NIV (phrase by phrase translation) or ESV (word for word translation).

Week 3

Chapters 10-13, to page 115, JSB

When you have a quiet half hour or so when you’re less likely to get interrupted, briefly ask God to open your eyes and ears to what He wants to show you. Then, in your notebook, answer these questions. Try to answer them as honestly as you can.  Do the questions for yourself.

1. The story of Moses freeing the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt is one of the most important in the Bible mainly because of what it foreshadows. First, let’s talk about how God’s people were slaves. The Egyptian Pharaohs were harsh rulers, mercilessly oppressing the Israelite slaves for four hundred years. This whole scene will come to represent how without God, we all live in captivity to sin. And sin is a ruthless oppressor. In what ways do you at times feel oppressed by or captive to sin? (if you need help, think about how difficult it is to break a bad habit, or shake off guilt, or how discouraged you feel repeating the same mistake over and over…)

2. Look up John 8:31-34 where Jesus explains this to some skeptics. How does He say we can be freed from our captivity?

3. The last plague that God sent the Egyptians before Pharaoh finally let the people go was the plague of death. Once again, this is so important because of what it foreshadows. Moses told God’s people that during the night, the angel of death would take the lives of all the first born children of every home in Egypt EXCEPT those which had the blood of an innocent lamb painted on the doorposts. Those homes would be passed over by the angel (why the Jews celebrate Passover, and why they refer to the “Passover lamb”). The blood of the lamb on the doorposts that night in Egypt is what led to the slaves’ freedom from death and since it was the last plague, freedom from slavery. The Israelites walked out of the country that night, on their way to the promised land.

In John 1:29, what does John the Baptist call Jesus when he sees him for the first time?

In the exact same way, Jesus’ blood when He died on the cross became a covering for us, not only protecting us from (eternal spiritual) death, but also freeing us from the grip sin and darkness had on our lives. However, He doesn’t force us to accept this free gift of forgiveness. We are covered and freed if, and only if, we believe Him and entrust our lives to His care.

Have you entrusted your life to God and received His gift of forgiveness? If not, why not take a minute to talk to Him right now?

4. The stories about Moses parting the Red Sea, going hungry in the desert, the 10 commandments, and Jericho are all about God’s people facing impossibilities. Right after they were freed from slavery, they faced some HUGE challenges. God was certainly trying to grow their faith muscles now that they were walking with Him and giving them opportunities to trust Him in the face of impossible circumstances. Take a minute to recall three things you’ve experienced that may not have been pleasant at the time, but grew your faith in God. Are there any happening now?

Finish today by reading James 1:1-4 for one reason why trials are allowed in our lives.

* * *

101 Wednesdays, Week 2

The first question I asked on last week's homework was for each person to list some impressions of the Bible that they held coming in. As we met under a shade tree outside the coffee shop yesterday morning, "Confusing," was the first reply. Other answers included "long", "boring", and "intimidating". I said that one feeling I have about reading the Bible is that one can never be finished understanding it. Even a scholar who spends his career studying God's word never gets to the end of that process. That makes me feel a little frustrated at times, that I can never fully grasp it.

Next we talked about what each person hoped to get out of reading this book. How did we hope God's story could help us in ours? I think the consensus was that we all desired a little simplification in our lives and in our faith. We complicate things so much; we all long for a return to the basics and a focus on the core truths of God's word.

There were nine of us at the table, and as we continued through the study, some themes quickly arose. I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was to find so many of us struggle with shame. That tormenting guilt for our mistakes, past and present, is a real problem amongst women, isn't it? And then there was fear and control. I asked a question in the homework related to this, saying describe a time when you've dealt with fear/control. One woman answered for all of us when she replied, "Ummm, every day?"

The "terrible lie" that we read about this week is alive and well in our lives. I was again reminded how much we need this. And how much we need each other.

I had prayed out loud in my car on the way there yesterday. I don't remember much of what I said, but I do remember asking that each woman participating in this study would find a deep satisfaction in the truth of God's word. We forget, as a people, that we were created to hunger for God and truth. But instead of nourishing ourselves with the rich and satisfying foods of His word, we eat cotton candy all day long. I prayed that these women would taste steak, and long for more.

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Psalm 63:5

It is my soul's own prayer too: Lord, may you continue to wean me off my taste for the ideas, values, and ways of the world. When I consume those things, make them bitter in my mouth. And the more I choose you, your words, and your ways, give me lasting satisfaction and increase my hunger for more.  


So did you follow along with us this week?
Here is the homework for next week. I hope you'll join us.    
Week 2
Chapters 4-9, up to page 83, JSB

When you have a quiet half hour or so when you’re less likely to get interrupted, briefly ask God to open your eyes and ears to what He wants to show you. Then, in your notebook, answer these questions. Try to answer them as honestly as you can. Do the questions for yourself.

1. Which story was your favorite this week? Why?

2. We read about the Tower of Babel and how God stopped the plans of His people when they were going to lead them down the wrong path. Can you recall a time when your plans got thwarted and things turned out better for you in the end? Explain.

3. In the story of Abraham, we saw that sometimes God asks us to believe in the impossible. What is something you have a hard time believing about Him? OR Describe a time when God asked you to believe in Him when a situation looked hopeless.

4. In the story of Rachel and Leah, we learned about how God sees His daughters. Make a brief list of some of your faults in your notebook. Then cross them out, one at a time, writing one of these words in its place: Chosen, Beautiful, Loved, Princess. If you feel your own heart resisting, if you find it hard to accept, keep lengthening the list until the truth of how God sees you starts to seep in.

5. Joseph’s story is full of redemption. God used Joseph’s awful and unjust circumstances for His good purposes, and then brought healing and forgiveness back into his broken family. Share one circumstance or relationship that needs redeeming in your life. Take a minute to invite God into that hurt and ask Him to use this part of your story for something good.

101 Wednesdays Tips and Homework, Week 1

Except let's not call it homework. Let's call it Reflection. Sounds much better than homework. Between my two kids, I have WAY too much homework in my life as it is.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read this. 101 Wednesdays is a weekly series I'm doing based on a small group I'm leading in my community. We are talking about the basics of faith, and every Wednesday, after I meet with the women face to face, I'll be posting some teaching and questions for reflection for those of you who are following along here.

Let me just start by giving you some helpful tips for participating in this Bible study.

1. Keep a notebook and pen at your side.

2. Find a space of about 30 minutes when you're least likely to be interrupted. It will be tempting to multi-task and read your chapters out loud to your child, since this is technically a children's Bible. And that's okay, as long as you also take time to read it alone also.

3. Before you read, ask God to open your eyes and heart to what He wants to show you. Doesn't have to be a complicated or formal prayer. Just take a minute to center your heart and acknowledge that He is the one who is actually teaching you based on what He knows you need.

4. Write in your Bible. Underline, highlight, whatever, but jot thoughts or impressions in the margins as you go. Make note of what jumps out at you or that you have questions about.

5. Take time to write your answers to the Reflection questions in your notebook. And remember, these are written for YOU. You won't get a grade. If one of the questions doesn't seem relevant to you, then skip it. But no matter what, be honest with yourself. Dig deep. Let what you're learning seep into your past, present, and future. If this kind of reflection is not something you're used to, it may feel difficult at first, and it make take some self-discipline to follow through. But it is important to learn how to live an examined life, and that takes practice.

6. Finally, spend a few minutes talking to God about what you read or are learning. Tell Him when you're confused or thankful or frustrated. If your mind wanders, it's helpful to write out your prayers. Remember that notebook sitting there? It's only for you to see, so don't be afraid to be real. Prayer is two things, in my mind: being real with God and listening.

We are not in this study just to know more about God. We are in it to know God.


Here is the assignment for Week 1:

Chapters 1-3 (Wait, go to the Table of Contents and number those chapters first) through page 36.

1. List three impressions or feelings you already had about the Bible, either positive or negative.

2. So now that we know we will learn how the Bible is one big story, name one way you hope that this story may help you in your own personal story.

3. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden, they allowed a terrible lie to come into the hearts of mankind: God doesn’t love me. Describe a time in your life when you doubted that God saw or cared for you. How did you feel?

4. God didn’t want them to eat the fruit because He knew Adam and Eve would then think they knew everything. This is the definition of pride, thinking we know better than God does, living our own way. God knew we would stop trusting Him, and He knew what would happen in our hearts. Fear and control can set in when faith is absent. Describe a situation where you struggled with fear and/or control. If you had trusted God at the time, how might things have changed (even if only in your heart)?

5. Reread page 36. End your time by telling God in your heart or on paper how you feel about the story so far. Have you been running from Him? Do you miss Him? Are you needing to be rescued with His Never-Stopping Love?



I'm so excited you're here, following along. Really I am. Community is the best. We will learn a lot together, I have no doubt.

101 Wednesdays {back to the basics}

I'm getting back to the basics.

The meat and potatoes of faith.

The cornerstone beliefs.

Starting tomorrow, I'm leading a 101 Bible study in my city. I just gave it that name: 101 Wednesdays. It's not already a thing.

It felt pretty scary, but I invited as many friends and acquaintances as I could think of who seemed to be at least 1% interested in spiritual things. I knew many of them were not believers, which was sort of the idea. My motive was to bring church to them. If they would not make time in their lives to seek out and attend an intense 2.5 hour women's study with 100 women and 5-day a week homework, maybe they would meet at a coffee shop to talk about basics. I thought, "Maybe God has been preparing some hearts to take one small step in His direction. Maybe I could hold a woman's hand and help her take that one small step."

Wait, not maybe. I knew I could. If I were at least one small step ahead of someone else, and if God brought me that someone, I knew I could help her take that step.

That's my definition of discipleship. It is on my heart all the time, the "great commission," where Jesus said, "GO. Make disciples." The burden of that call finally got me off my rear end in my own community. But it wasn't just the call. God has lately been showing me how apathetic the world is becoming toward spiritual things. I have many friends who just don't care. Having a relationship with God seems irrelevant, unnecessary to them. If you look around, you'll see it. If it's heartbreaking to me, just imagine how heartbreaking the apathy must be to God, as a Father.

Goodness, I keep getting on tangents because this stuff is at the core of my heart. Back to my email. Many women I emailed didn't reply at all. But a few did. Then a few more. Then a few emailed their friends, and I got replies from a few more...women I've never even met. Today, I'm now concerned there won't be enough open chairs at the coffee shop. And I'm thankful for that problem.

So I thought I'd share the study here on the blog on Wednesdays too. Would you like to follow along?

The first book we are reading is the Jesus Storybook Bible. Yes, technically it's a children's Bible. Don't laugh, because it is incredible. It is written like a storybook, and it does a beautiful job of giving us a picture of what the Bible says in it's entirety. For those of us who didn't "grow up in church" or who feel intimidated or overwhelmed by reading the Bible, it is an excellent place to start. The Jesus Storybook Bible has been used in grown-up studies before to show how the most important things we need to know for our lives are at once both deeply profound, and also simple enough for a child to understand.

The subtitle of the book reads "Every story whispers His name," hinting at how the author weaves the stories together in the Bible to demonstrate its bigger messages. So it's the big picture that I'm interested in passing on to you guys through this book. We'll be able to breeze through it, and then afterwards, we'll start a more traditional book study of some kind. There are so many great ones.


If you want to follow along here, I will be posting a summary of what we learned that week, a reading assignment, and questions. They will not be "Try to get the answer right!" kinds of questions. They will be reflective, and are only for the purpose of processing what we're learning in the context of our real day-to-day lives.

Finally, I'm going to tell you a story about my friend.

I didn't send her the email because she is a strong believer already. She and her husband have worked in ministry at their church for over a decade. But she happened to be at my house, and somehow news of the study slipped out. I invited her out of politeness and was a tad apologetic that it was a "basics" study, assuming she would not be into it. Her answer shocked and humbled me.

She said she'd NEVER participated in a women's Bible study and NEVER attended a women's retreat because she doesn't know much about the Bible and feels horribly insecure. Because she wasn't raised going to church, she didn't know any of the stories. In fact, she'd work in the children's ministry at her church so that she could hear the basics taught in a simple way. She has such a deep insecurity about not knowing the Bible but being surrounded my mature believers that she said she often feels like she has to "fake it." And when I asked if her church ever offered women's studies, she said, "Oh yes LOTS! But none of them have ever had 'basics' in the title." She told me that 101 Wednesdays sounds like the only type of study she'd ever be interested in trying. 

Isn't that so humbling? God knew. He saw my friend's fears, He knew what she needed. And I was too presuming to put her on the email list. What a mistake! But he also didn't let my mistake thwart HIS great plans for my friend. Thank you Lord. So I'm inviting ALL of you to join in. It's up to you to decide if you want to follow along.

I'm getting back to basics.

It's for you if you're so intimidated by the Bible that it collects dust on your shelf.

And it's for you if you grew up on a pew beside your daddy who sat in the front row.

It's for you if you feel like something's broken.

It's for you if you never expected life could be this hard.

It's for you if you are just curious, just wondering who this Jesus really is.

Is he a teacher, a good example, a prophet?

Did He really sit in the black nothingness and speak each star into being? By name?

And it's for you if you sit here reading, wondering what on earth that has to do with you when your responsibilities and relationships threaten to do you in.

Reinforcing the cornerstones of my faith? Remembering how Point A (the Bible) connects to Point B (my life)?

Yes, that's for me.