Thursday, June 28, 2012

Do Not Be Afraid

Quick. What is, by far, God's most frequent command?

The usual suspects include "Do not commit adultery," "Have no other gods before me," and "Love one another." The next group includes whatever commands you know you have violated, in which case they only feel as if they appear on every page of Scripture.

The actual answer is "Do not be afraid."

Here is a sampling (italics added) of its over three hundred occurrences.

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward" (Gen 15:1).

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there" (Gen 21:17).

That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you" (Gen. 26:24).

"I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there" (Gen. 46:3).

The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land" (Num. 21:34).

The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him" (2 Kings 1:15).

He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's'" (2 Chron. 20:15).

Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood -- because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah (Isa. 7:4).

"Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 41:14).

Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one (Isa. 44:8).

Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood (Isa. 54:4).

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD (Jer. 1:8).

Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them" (Dan. 10:12).

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matt. 10:28).

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid" (Matt. 14:27).

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me" (Matt. 28:10).

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

Now envision pages more of such references. Do you get the sense that God is alert to your fears? The sheer number of times He speaks to your fears says that He cares much more than you know.

~ Adapted from Running Scared by Ed Welch

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Mortifying Sin

  • When you meditate on the mercy and compassion of Christ, the mighty Maker who died in your place...
  • When you remember that your ransom was purchased at the price of His precious blood...
  • When you consider the cost of the gifts you have received through the cross - wisdom, righteousness, holiness, sonship, redemption, and future resurrection to glory forever...
  • When you reflect on the salvation and safety that your Brother, your Captain, and your King has secured for you...
  • When you realize that God is more satisfied with Jesus' obedience than He was grieved by your sins...
  • When you ponder the pain and the shame of the scourging and scoffing, the spitting and mocking, the crown of thorns and the nails in His hands, and all the cruel wounds He received on your behalf...
  • When you understand that you are not only acquitted but accepted as fully righteous in God's sight, perfect in the eyes of the law, because the full measure of divine wrath was poured out on Jesus for you, and His obedience has been counted as yours...
  • When your heart is filled with the glories of His triumph over Satan, sin, and death...
  • When your affections are captured anew by the self-sacrificing love of the Lord and Lover of your soul...
... then you will discover that the stranglehold of sin on your heart has grown weaker, that sin is less alluring, and that your fallen desires have been displaced by desires for God, His glory, and His grace.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Ways of Praying the Psalms

If you missed the first night of Thrive, here are some of the key notes from Ann's talk (below). Also, if you missed some of Erin's homiletics notes, you can download those here. If you want to print more homiletics worksheets, you can find those here.


Prayer is “answering speech”, responding to God’s Word to us. The goal of praying the psalms is to make them our own prayers, using God’s language to respond to Him.

Ways of praying the Psalms – 6 methods or approaches (God’s Prayer Program, by T.M. Moore)

  • verbatim – praying the psalm as written, reading aloud, reflecting as you go (you need to be familiar with what the psalm beforehand)
  • paraphrase – when words don’t fit your life exactly, but suggest something very similar read as written, prayerfully considering how it applies to your own situation put into your own words, using words that seem appropriate to you
  • praying over – similar to paraphrasing, summarize sections of psalm, applying to your own life as you go; allow HS to prompt, move you in related, but new directions
  • responsive – read/pray the psalm, respond to matters raised as HS guides; establish a dialogue with God as He speaks from His Word
  • guided --‐ let the verses of the psalm suggest a topic and pray for as many specific applications of that topic as the Lord brings to mind
  • altogether--‐ using a variety of the above approaches, back and forth, letting the content of the psalm direct you We have the perfect Teacher in the language of prayer; the main obstacle is our own lack of desire

We learn to speak God’s language in prayers as a toddler learns language of his parent, must be practiced, builds relationship over time, shapes us. Some of these primary “vertical habits” of prayer are:

“I love you”
“I’m sorry”
“Thank you”
“Help!”
“Why?”
“I’m listening”
“What can I do?”
“Bless you”

Monday, June 4, 2012

Psalm 119 Summertime Reading Challenge

By Kim. M.


I have been thinking about my 10th grade girls in youth and thinking back over our year together. One recurring prayer request from each of them has been to be more consistent in their quiet times and to have a greater desire for God’s Word. What a great request! As I have reflected on this request, it’s made me consider: if we each REALLY deep down believe the marvelous power and benefit of God’s Word on our lives, why we wouldn’t we want to drink it in daily?

I have been reading in Psalm 119 this month and it is OVERFLOWING with all the practical benefits of God’s Word to our daily lives. I want to challenge you to do something with me over the summer. It won’t take long each day, but I believe the benefits will be long lasting!  I have made a reading plan for the summer and I am going to include a section from Psalm 119 in my daily reading. If I follow the plan, then I will read and meditate on Psalm 119 three times this summer.  I am going to use a different Bible translation each month. After each day’s reading, I am going to ask myself 3 questions:

  1. What did I learn about God and His Word?
  2. What do I learn about me?
  3. What should my response be to what I have read? (What are the action verbs?)

I would love for each of you to join me in this challenge and share what you are learning!!

Psalm 119 Summertime Reading Challenge

June 1
1 -8
July 1
65-72
August 1
137-144
June 2
9-16
July 2
73-80
August 2
145-152
June 3
17-24
July 3
81-88
August 3
153-160
June 4
25 -32
July 4
89-96
August 4
161-168
June 5
33 -40
July 5
97-104
August 5
169-176
June 6
41-48
July 6
105-112
August 6
1-8
June 7
49-56
July 7
113-120
August 7
9-16
June 8
57-64
July 8
121-128
August 8
17-24
June 9
65-72
July 9
129-136
August 9
25-32
June 10
73-80
July 10
137-144
August 10
33-40
June 11
81-88
July 11
145-152
August 11
41-48
June 12
89-96
July 12
153-160
August 12
49-56
June 13
97-104
July 13
161-168
August 13
57-64
June 14
105-112
July 14
169-176
August 14
65-72
June 15
113-120
July 15
1-8
August 15
73-80
June 16
121-128
July 16
9-16
August 16
81-88
June 17
129-136
July 17
17-24
August 17
89-96
June 18
137-144
July 18
25-32
August 18
97-104
June 19
145-152
July 19
33-40
August 19
105-112
June 20
 153-160
July 20
41-48
August 20
113-120
June 21
161-168
July 21
49-56
August 21
121-128
June 22
169-176
July 22
57-64
August 22
129-136
June 23
1-8
July 23
65-72
August 23
137-144
June 24
9-16
July 24
73-80
August 24
145-152
June 25
17-24
July 25
81-88
August 25
153-160
June 26
25-32
July 26
89-96
August 26
161-168
June 27
33-40
July 27
97-104
August 27
169-176
June 28
41-48
July 28
105-112


June 29
49-56
July 29
113-120


June 30
57-64
July 30
121-128




July 31
129-136