Bible Study Begins Again!

We had our orientation meeting yesterday for this year’s Disciple 1 Bible Study.  What a great group of women this will be!  I am very excited about our upcoming year of Bible study together.  Good things are in store for us!

Of course I was rushing to get out the door on time for our first meeting, making sure I had everything and that I was prepared.  As I drove away from the house I took a deep breath, put the rushing behind me, relaxed, and allowed myself to feel the excitement I had for orientation and the year of Bible study ahead of us.  “Yiippeeee!”, I thought as I drove along.  “Another year of Disicple study! Thank You, God, for not letting me cheat myself out of this experience!”  

At the end of last year’s study (back in May), I thought I’d be moving on from Disicple 1.  I didn’t know what I’d move on to, but a fabulous sister-friend expressed her desire to start leading Disicple 1, so I took that as God’s way of telling me it was time to move on.  I LOVE the Disciple 1 study, but have to admit that staying on top of it as the leader is a lot of work!  I was ready to ‘retire’ and be a participant in one of the other Disciple studies. I was quick to jump ship for an easier boat to sail!  It didn’t occur to me that God would need BOTH of us and that He wasn’t done with me yet!  So when I got a call mid-summer asking if I’d lead a second Disciple 1 group, my mouth said ‘yes’, but my head hoped someone else would be available to take it instead. 

A few days later, I sat down for a morning prayer.  As I did so I picked up my Bible and held it on my lap.  Looking down at it, holding it, and reflecting upon the many ways this very Book had changed my life, I began my conversation with God by thanking Him for the Bible, telling Him how precious it is to me (although I’m sure He already knew!), and remembering what a privilege it had been to share the Bible and its teachings with others.  I felt humbled that God would trust me to share His Book with others!  How fortunate I’ve been that He’s allowed me to set time aside in my life for seven years to continue doing this study!  I’d once prayed for that very thing!  Inspired by another Disciple leader who had taught Disciple 1 seven times, I told God I wanted to be like her. If it was His will, I wanted to do Disciple seven times, too.  In May, I completed my seventh year in Disciple study.  Thank You, Lord! 

 It was then He spoke to my heart to say, “Yes, it is a special thing to share the Bible with others, and it is a privilege to be called to do so, so don’t you want to lead Disciple 1 again?”   Of course, I did!  What had I been thinking?!    In that moment I became excited about having another year to do Disciple 1!  

I’m a self-proclaimed Word Nerd.  I LOVE reading and studying the Bible!  It’s fascinating on so many levels!  The Bible never stops speaking to me, teaching me, convicting me, motivating me, and inspiring me. It gives hope and healing, guidance and direction. It’s been an incredible tool for helping me reach out to others, share encouragements, and help others find their way in faith, too.  The Bible has also prepared me for various ministries I’ve been a part of.  All of these things have blessed me beyond measure.  How could I have been so willing to give up another opportunity to experience the Bible through Disicple 1 study again?

There are MANY fabulous studies out there.  Our church offeres many studies that I’d like to do.  How about you?  Does it interest you to do a Bible study?  If so, check around to see what’s available.  Check out church websites.  Talk to friends to see what they’re doing or what they’ve liked in the past.  Maybe God would like YOU to start a Bible study!  If you live in the Charlotte/Weddington area, maybe you’d like to join us in Disciple 1!  If so, contact me at ReneeMyers@carolina.rr.com or go to our church website at www.weddingtonchurch.org .

I’m no Bible expert.  I never will be.  But I’m a Bible brainiac wanna-be who’s thrilled to be back in the Word again!  I hope you’ll be getting into the Word, too! 

God bless you!

Renee

The Last Day of Summer Vacation

School starts tomorrow and, surprisingly, I’m not ready for them to go back!  I’ve really enjoyed having our boys home over the summer.  This is the first time ever I haven’t been counting the days until they’re back in school.  Usually I find myself going crazy by end of summer from having kids home 24/7 - reaching limits as to how much Disney and Nick, Jr tv I can take, (They have great shows for kids, but if you’re a grown-up and that’s all you see or hear…..!!!!), trying to find ways to keep them busy and entertained, putting up with brotherly squables, and dealing with constant piles of laundry, continuous eating, and ongoing messes around the house.   It’s a lot of work to have kids home for the summer!  It’s a lot of fun, too, and it’s important not to lose sight of that.  Summer fun is what makes all the summer work worth it!  And I have to say, it gets easier as they get older.  I think that’s why we’ve had such a good summer, one that I’m not ready to see end. 

  Except for having to plan around my older son’s football workouts/ practices and our younger son’s baseball schedules, we’ve been on our own schedule – which means very little schedule at all!  I purposely detached myself from most of my involvements over the summer so that summer could be all about us - not all the things I have to do or places I have to be.  Our boys are growing up FAST and we’re learning to make the most of all the moments we can. 

Since this is boys’ last day of summer vacation, my husband took the day off from work to spend it with us.  He’s playing Monopoly with the boys as I write and complaining about all the money he’s had to pay our younger son because he keeps landing on properties the little land-owner owns.  (hee hee) 

We didn’t get to take an actual summer vacation, but we did visit the boys’ grandparents at their new home near Hilton Head, SC.  They built a wonderful home in a low-country, ‘old south’-type community.  We had  a great time visiting them!  That ended up being our only get-away for the summer, but that’s ok because it was a great one!  And we saved vacation dollars!

Our older son only has three more summers at home before going away to college.   That means we just have nine months total of summer vacation with each of them while they’re ‘young’!   Yes, we definitely have to make the most of family times and create good family memories.  God willing, we’ll be able to do just that!

Oh, Good and Gracious Heavenly Father, You give us so much to be thankful for!  Thank You for the life you allow us to live and and the abundance of good things we have.  I’m not talking about money, food, or materialistic things.  I’m talking about abundance of love, happiness, health, and family.  Thank You for Your presence in our lives and Your place in our family.  None of this would be what it is without You.  Please may it be Your will to continue to bless us with more of the same, and may we in return make the most of our blessings in ways that bless and honor You .  Amen. 

“Prayer for our School Children” (Reprint)

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 5:14-15

It thrills me to discover that of all 256 posts I’ve written, the most visited is “Prayer for Our School Children”.   Why does it thrill me?  Because that tells me there are lots of praying parents and care takers, so there are lots of children, teachers, and schools being covered in prayer!  Praise be to God! 

Here is a reprint, originally posted on this site on Aug 24, 2007:

A teacher in my son’s public school pulled me aside in the hallway one morning as the children were arriving.  She asked if I prayed.  I said that I did.  She then asked me to pray for the children in her class and gave me two specific prayer requests for them.   She concluded her thoughts with a comment I will always remember.  She said she could tell which children were prayed for, and many in her class needed someone to pray for them.   (Doesn’t that comment just tug at your heart?)

Be sure to pray for your children and for other children who don’t have someone praying for them.  Following is a prayer I wrote in August of 2005 as my children started a new year of school:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I seek Your presence, coming before You with thanksgiving for the wonderful blessings You have given me through my children.  Raising a child is an awesome and often overwhelming responsibility, yet You have entrusted these children to me, so I come to You now to lift them up to You as they begin a new year at school.  Please, Lord, keep my children safe from harm and evil.  Please keep the buses and carpool vehicles safe.  Please let Your presence be in the school to keep it safe, positive, and a good environment where children can be comfortable and able to learn.

Although we cannot speak of You or pray outwardly to You in many schools, let the Christians in the schools share Christ’s love and the lessons He taught with their words and actions.  I pray that my children will be positive influences on those around them, conducting themselves in a Christ-like manner and resisting temptations to behave in ways that are not acceptable or allowed in school.

Lord, I thank You for the many gifts, talents, and blessings You have given my children and pray that they will continue to use and grow those gifts; and that their actions and accomplishments will be pleasing to You and bring glory to You.

Lord, I also pray for myself as a parent.  Please help me to be there for my children in the ways that they need me to be.  Help me to understand them and know how to support them, even ‘fight’ for them, if needed.  I pray that You will give me the wisdom to know when to help, when to encourage, when to motivate, and when to sit back, being more mindful of their needs and what is best for them instead of giving in to my protective and dominating tendencies.  I pray also for wisdom in helping them when they face difficulties and challenges.  Help their father and I to rule with patience and grace – even in the most frustrating of situations.

And Lord, I pray that You will instill in their hearts the desire to learn, grow, mature, and thrive in their educational settings.  Most importantly, please keep within them the desire to keep You in their lives, not allowing less godly influences to push You aside.

Please also help us to communicate and stay close.

I pray for every parent who shares these prayerful concerns and ask that You guide and bless them as they love and care for their children.  I pray, too, for the children who don’t have someone to pray for them.  May those children find people in their lives who can lead and inspire them.  To You, my Heavenly Father I pray, with Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and in the love of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Thanks for visiting this site, and God bless you! 

Renee

Wed, Aug 5

Well, we’re almost at the end of summer and I’ve done really well with my kids.  I haven’t turned into an ugly angry monster once with them!  One summer I totally lost my cool on just the second day of summer vacation!  The same isn’t true in regards to my husband, though.  Less than 24 hours after writing the post below stating that I’ll take my complaints and concerns to God BEFORE handling them on my own, I did just the opposite and got into a doozy of a ‘discussion’ with my husband.   

Feeling worried about a conversation we’d just had, I went to him to share my worries and concerns.  I really should have prayed about them first. Doing so would have avoided a terrible argument.  I was kicking myself afterward.  Why hadn’t I done what I’d professed I would do? Why? Because I didn’t even think about it.  I reacted before stepping back to give prayerful thought my worries and concerns. 

The good news is that we were able to talk again later in the day and cleared things up. Having learned from my mistake earlier in the day, I approached him only AFTER spending reflective time in prayer (and sending up desperation pleas throughout the afternoon!).  God had mercy and my husband had compassion.  Praise!  And it’s a good thing, too, because the very next day I tested our relationship and my husband’s patience again when I had a minor fender-bender in a parking lot.  Oh, how I dreaded calling to tell him!  But he came to be with me while we waited for police and was very cool about everything. 

Nothing makes me feel worse than when my husband is upset with me.  And nothing feels better than when we’re getting along again!  Thank goodness, the bad times are few and the good times are many.

He will teach us in our ways, and we will walk in his paths.  – Isaiah 2:3 

Or at least, I’ll try!

Say it to His face.

Words spoken by Moses to the Israelites as they started their journey for the Promised Land:  “…He (God) has heard your complaints, which are against the Lord and not against us…Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us (Moses and Aaron).”   Exodus 16:7-8

Our Senior Pastor, Dr. Terry Moore, based his sermon today on the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites and God’s provisions in response to their cries.  The scriptures were taken from Chapter 16 of Exodus. 

Dr. Moore gave many notable lessons, but the verses that jumped out at me were Exodus 16:7 and 16:8, where Moses responds to the peoples’ complaints and tells them that they’re not really complaining to Moses and Aaron.  They’re complaining to God!  

I’d already highlighted these verses from previous studies, but evidently I’d forgotten what I’d learned because I complain a lot – not to GOD, of course! – but to my husband, my children, friends, acquaintances, and sometimes even strangers I meet in public.  Then there are the unspoken complaints that I think I’m keeping to myself, but the truth is that God knows our thoughts, so He knows my silent complaints, too.  OMGosh!  He’s been hearing a lot of complaints from me!

Please don’t get me wrong…I’m not a chronic complainer!  For the most part I’m a postive and cheerful person.  Yet, I still have negative thoughts and say negative things about others, situations, current events, and whatever seems wrong to me. 

When I complain about others, do I complain to them?  Usually not.  Usually I complain about them, but not to them. 

If I wouldn’t say something to someone’s face, I shouldn’t say it at all.  The same goes for complaints to God… and thanks to the noted verses in Exodus, I realize that’s just what I’ve been doing!  I’ve been saying things to others that I wouldn’t say to Him. Why wouldn’t I say them directly to God?  Probably because they’re too petty, or complaining to God would expose traits about me that I wouldn’t want Him to see.  You know, traits like self-centeredness, selfishness, childishness, being a martyr, and worst of all unChristian-like thoughts and behaviors. 

Now I realize all those things HAVE been exposed about me because when I’ve complained to others, I’ve actually been complaining to God!

So what do I do?  STOP COMPLAINING!  And here are three things I’ll do to help myself stop: 

1) Start living by this rule:  If I can’t say it to His face, don’t say it at all.

2) Turn my ungodly thoughts around with a Christian approach.  Instead of whining and complaining, I need to pose my thoughts as concerns for God and seek His help, guidance and wisdom regarding my concerns. 

3) Apply the wisdom of the Serenity Prayer by changing the things I can (instead of just complaining about them), and seeking the grace from God to accept the things I cannot change and trusting Him with these matters, instead. 

Dear God, I am SO sorry for the years of complaining I’ve done!  Much of it has been unnecessary, petty, childish, and has surely been tiresome and frustrating for you to hear!  Please help me to handle negative thoughts and situations in better ways - ways that display better faith and Christain living, and in ways that will be pleasing and glorifying to You.  Amen.

Is there racial discrimination in the Bible?

Is there racial discrimination in the Bible?  To the best of my Biblical knowledge, the answer is ‘no’.  

In the ancient days of the Israelites, when God was trying to ‘raise’ the Israelites as his Holy people, there were numerous times when He instructed them to completely stay away from other tribes of people.  He forbid inter-marriage with people from other tribes and religions.  HOWEVER, He didn’t make these commands because of racial differences.  God commanded the Israelites to avoid those who were evil in their ways and/or who participated in pagan worship.  He was trying to keep His chosen people pure and not allow them to be influenced by those who worshiped idols or took part in evil and sinful behaviors. 

God’s protectiveness of the Israelites continued until they returned to Jerusalem after their time in exile.  While in exile, foreigners lived in their land.  When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, God instructed them to live amongh the other peoples to be a light among them.  No longer were they being asked separate themselves from people of other tribes, countries, or religions.  Now they were to live among people of differences and share their Holy faith with them. 

This took place in the Old Testament before Jesus existed on earth.  I view God’s command for the Israelites to live among others so that they could be a light unto them as being the Old Testament version of the Great Commission. 

NOTE:  In the New Testament, Christians are commanded to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people, reaching out to the far corners of the world.  This command is called the Great Commission.  (Matthew 28:18-20)

Jesus sent His apostles to lead the way in the Great Commission.  I’m not aware of any situation where either Jesus or His apostles discriminated against who could/should receive the Good News. 

 Jesus, himself, walked among people of various nationalities and backgrounds. 

The Holy Spirit sent Philip to travel along a desert road where he met a man (a eunuch) from Ethiopia who was the Treasurer to the Queen of Ethiopia.  As the Ethiopian rode in his carriage, he was trying to read from the Book of Isaiah.  The Holy Spirit instructed Philip to walk alongside the carriage.  When he did so, Philip noticed the man reading scriptures.  Philip was able to help the man understand the verses he was reading and also shared the Good News about Jesus! The man was so inspired that he asked to be baptised along the side of the road where water was found.  (Acts 8:28-40)

Do you see what happened?  The Holy Spirit of God Almighty sent one of His believers to share the Good News with an influential man from Ethiopia.  Why?  1) Because the Good News is for EVERYONE (no racial discrimination), and 2) so that the Good News could be spread to the Ethiopian people (again, no racial discrimination).

I’m not a Bible expert.  I’m a Bible expert wanna-be, so PLEASE correct me if I’m mistaken in anything I’ve written here.

The Blessings in a Bummer

And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes for them.     – Romans 8:28

In my previous post I wrote about a big disappointment I experienced.  An untimely infection kept me from taking our sons back to Indiana to visit  grandparents and my husband’s sister and her family.  We were packed and excited about going, then had to cancel at the last minute.  I tried postponing our departure, but still couldn’t go. 

I trust there’s a reason why it was best that we didn’t go.  So far I don’t know what exactly that reason was, maybe I never will, but we made the best of our situation and I found unexpected blessings by the end  of the week.   Here are a few of those blessings:

1)  We had an unexpected stay-cation at home!  Since we’d planned to be out of town, we had 5 days at home with no appointments or commitments!  It was great to sleep as late as we wanted, have relaxed mornings, and spend each day as we pleased!

2) Since I’d done all the laundry getting ready for the trip, I had two days off from laundry when we stayed home!  Nice!

3) We got excellent rest and relaxation – more so than if we’d been busy visiting family.

4) We didn’t have to be away from my husband. He wasn’t going to be able to join us on the trip because of his work, and I was wishing he couldn’t travel with us.  Since we stayed home, we didn’t have to be apart after all!  (We might have affected his plans of staying home and getting caught up on work, though!  Oh, well!)

5) I cleaned out some drawers, spent time programming my new cell phone  (Btw…the Palm Pre is an awesome phone!), and taking care of other things that I’m usually too busy to do. 

6) I had long phone calls with some loved ones I hadn’t talked with for a while- something else I don’t usually have time to do. 

7) We saved lots of travel money!! 

8 ) Because I was trying to get well, I had to take it easy and give myself a much-appreciated break from busyness and physical exertion – no vacumming!   

9) My Dad said he and Carolyn would come see us since we couldn’t go see them!  That’s a HUGE blessing because he doesn’t want to travel anymore.  He hasn’t been here for over 5 years.  It will be WONDERFUL having them here.  We’d have only been able to see them for 1 day in Indiana, but they’ll have several days here.  They can visit the boys’ schools and go to their ball games.  I can cook for them and we can visit area restaurants, too.  This will be so much better.  Now I just have to keep praying that Dad will be able to travel.    SPECIAL FYI:  This is especially appreciated because I haven’t seen my Dad since Feb of 08.  It crushed me to know that I’d have to wait indefinitely to see him.  I wanted him to see the boys, too.  They’ve grown up so much since my Dad and his wife saw them.

10) I got to express to my Dad just how much I love him and miss him when I tearfully called to say we wouldn’t be coming.  I always tell him I love him when we talk, but this time the emotions were overflowing and he realized just how much he means to me. 

There were blessings in the bummer, indeed.  Probably most bummers have blessings, we just have to be aware of them.

Romans 8:28 is one of my favorite verses.  God played it out for me this past week.  And something tells me there were other blessings that weren’t apparent to me.  God is good!  That’s for sure!

John 3:16 at 3:16 a.m.!

I woke up at 2:30 a.m. in great discomfort.  The antibiotics I’d started yesterday weren’t helping.  I was much worse.  I began to cry as I realized I would be unable to travel to Indiana today as planned.  The boys and I only had a few days, so it was going to be a quick trip to visit family – my Dad and his wife on Friday, then my husband’s sister and her family on Saturday when we’d have fun with my 3-year old nephew, then drive home on Sunday.  We didn’t get to make this trip last summer, so I’ve been especially anxious and excited to get there.  It’s been way too long since I’ve seen my Dad and he’s seen his grandsons; and my boys were looking forward to having playing with their little cousin on Saturday.  We were even going to surprise him by taking the little motorized John Deere truck my boys have outgrown.  The thought of missing out on all that added to the sickness I already felt. 

I was up for an hour before my physical discomfort subsided enough that I could try to go back to sleep.  As I crawled into bed, my tears started up again.  This time they were ‘pity party’ tears.  Why is there always something wrong with me?  Why do I have to miss so many things because of health issues?  Why did I have to miss another trip back to Indiana?  Why….?    I looked at the clock.  It was 3:16.  The numbers jumped out at me…3:16…John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…”  Yes, that’s an amazing statement of God’s love, but what did that have to do with me at that moment?  Then I recalled the other half of that verse. “…so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”   Ok.  That’s an amazing promise of salvation, but again what does that have to do with me right now?  Why is that verse  jumping out at me?  My mind zoomed in on the words ”…will not perish but have eternal life.”   God was breaking up my ‘pity party to say, “Renee, this is not something serious.  Yes, you have frequent ailments and problems, but they won’t cause you’re not about to perish!  And in the end, you have eternal life with Me to look forward to!”  Yep, He was right.  As disappointed as I was about not going to Indiana, there was nothing seriously wrong with me.  Praise for that!  As frustrating as frequent ailments and minor health problems are…they’re just that – minor!  The best part of all?  I might not get to see my earthly Dad tomorrow, but there’s a heavenly Dad whose visit is guaranteed!  God willing we’ll all unite there one day and no will have ailments or health problems of any kind! 

My pity party was over.  Thank You, God!  My thoughts turned to giving Him thanks for caring enough to comfort me at 3:16 in the morning. 

God often speaks to me in the 3:00 a.m. hour, usually around 3:30 a.m.   Maybe it’s because the world around me is completely quiet and peaceful at that time.  Usually aroused from sleep, my mind is clear and open, not cluttered and busy like it usually is during the course of my days.  

It’s now 11:35 a.m.  I’m still disappointed we can’t go to Indiana as planned, but for some reason, that’s the way it is.  No pity parties for me, though.  I’d rather use my time and thoughts in more purposeful ways, like remembering how awesome my Heavenly Father is and how thankful I am for the things that really matter.

“Be Big!” for God

Do you ever wonder if you’re capable of doing the tasks before you?  Or question whether or not you’re worthy to do God’s work?  Do you compare yourself to others and think that surely you’re ‘not good enough’ if you’re not like them? 

 If you relate to these questions, then maybe you’ll find encouragement in my devotion “ Be Big!”, published today by Proverbs 31 Ministries.  You can find it at www.Proverbs31.org .    While you’re at the site, you might want to sign up for a FREE online subscription to receive their “Encouragement for Today” devotions every day!   I look forward to receiving mine every morning! 

God bless you as you find ways to “Be Big!” for God!

God Heard and Answered My Prayers

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.    – 1 Peter 5:7

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live…Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.      – Psalm 116:1-2, 5

Some people wonder how Christians can be believers.  If asked why or how I believe, my response is that I know how I’ve been blessed- how my life is blessed – since I started living in faith.  Nothing else I’ve ever done or believed has had the impact on my life that God has.  He is there.  He does things!  Today was one of those amazing times when He proved His presence in my life.

I recently witnessed a situation that wasn’t right.  It troubled me.  At 3:44 a.m. I woke up thinking about it.  I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t.  My mind was stuck on this situation.  It needed to be addressed.  I started making a mental check-list of the issues that bothered me; then I started considering what I could say or do regarding these things.  With thoughts finally in place I tried and tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t.  I’d been awake an hour!  It was almost 5:00 a.m.!  Desperate to have a little more sleep I silently cried out to God, “Lord, what else do I need to do about this?  Why can’t I go to sleep?”  Then I realized my mistake.  I’d spent an hour of precious sleep time wrestling with my thoughts as a lone wrangler.  Instead of turning things over in my mind, I needed to turn them over to God. 

I prayed out the situation to God, and instead of coming up with everything I needed to say and do, I left it up to God to determine those things.  Even though I’d developed strong feelings about how I needed to take care of things, as I prayed I realized God was waiting for me to trust HIM to take care of things.  What peace this brought!  Why hadn’t I realized this sooner? 

Having given it all up to God and trusting Him to handle the situation as He saw fit, I fell right to sleep!   But that’s not the happy ending.  It gets better.

Later in the day God showed me how He’d rectified the situation – beautifully, I might add – and without any involvement from me. 

Do you see how He blessed me in this situation?  Knowing I was troubled He stayed with me until I gave it all up to Him.  He didn’t let me take matters into my own hands.  If I had, I’d have surely messed things up and maybe even made things worse!  AND…not only did He take care of the situation, He also allowed me to be blessed by the outcome.  What a sweet Lord we have!

The most awesome part about all of this is that I never uttered a word of what I was thinking and feeling.  God knew what was in my heart.  He heard and answered my silent prayers.  NO ONE knew the concerns I had.  Only Him.  And He acted on them.  Praise be to God! 

Dear Lord, Thank You for always being there, for tending to the matters of my heart, and for the peace You give when I’m in step with You.  Thank You for not letting me rest (literally!) until I’d responded in faith and put my trust in You.  Thanks also for the added blessings of knowing how well You took care of things.  You truly are an awesome God!   As long as I have breath, I will praise Your holy name!  Amen. 

You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds.  – Psalm 65:5