Coloring God's Word

I enjoy Bible Journaling as it's a way I can meditate on God's Sord while playing; creating an image that reflects what His Word says. It helps me to stay focused and not get bored. I like it so much, I made a Bible Journaling Playset that I can easily move anywhere I like. (In a previous post, I shared what items I have in my Playset, you can read it here).

But what if you are too nervous to write in your Bible?

I will admit, it was nerve-wracking for me to draw in my Bible that first time last month but once I leapt that hurdle it's been wonderful. Even still, I understand that it may be a little harder to take that first step for others.

Is there another way to color and think about God's Word? Yes!

Another great option I've found is Adult Coloring Books with Bible Verses. With these, you can color while focusing on a Bible verse without actually needing to color in your Bible. I bought a number of these coloring books for Christmas gifts this year because I enjoy Bible Journaling so much but understand that not all my friends feel comfortable coloring in their Bibles--and that's okay! But I didn't want them to miss out on the fun of coloring and meditating on God's Word so I got went with this alternative option.

Check out this picture of a coloring page I completed this week:

This picture took me about 5 or 6 hours to finish (it may not look like it's time consuming, but there are lots of separate pieces to color!). While I was coloring I would repeat parts of the verse in my mind and then work my way up to repeating the whole thing at once. Since this is a shorter verse, I did not repeat it the entire time I colored. At one point, I put on some Christian music, put my feet up, and relaxed; just soaking in the Christian songs as I colored.

It was glorious.

Right now I have two Bible verse coloring books and I think they will last me all of 2016. Even the pages with less details still take a decent amount of time to finish coloring completely. I received some sparkle and metallic gel pens for Christmas and they are wonderful! I probably haven't used gel pens in 15 years and I had forgotten how smooth they move as you use them. I particularly like them for coloring as they make a nice solid color instead of showing streaky lines like some of my markers do.

In addition to being fun, studies have shown that coloring helps reduce stress. Bonus!

Adult coloring books with Bible verses are a nice alternative (or addition!) to Bible Journaling. It's another fun way to meditate on God's precepts and consider His ways (Psalm 119:15).

How do you meditate on scripture in a fun way?

Focus Verse for 2016

Have you ever had words seem to jump off the page as you were reading?

I have.

When I was reading through Ephesians the other day, the verse from 2:10 seemed to do just that. As my eyes were moving over the words, I thought: This should be my focus verse for 2016. Now, because I hadn't even considered picking out a verse to focus on in 2016, I know this was a prompting from the Holy Spirit--a nudge from God Himself. Never before have I picked out a Bible verse to focus on for a year but since God told me to this year, I'm going to! 

So, I took Ephesians 2:10 and I created a picture I would enjoy looking at throughout the year. I also "added myself in" by switching the words "you are" to "I am" in the beginning and the word "you" to "me" at the end. This way, when I read this verse throughout 2016, I will automatically apply it to myself. I am God's Masterpiece. 

I printed the picture a couple times and haven't decided where I would like to hang it. I don't have a lot of wall space in my computer room and my fridge is cluttered. I'm leaning towards my bathroom near the mirror so I'll see it every day when I get ready, but I haven't hung it up yet ... I still have a few more hours to decide. 

As I continued reading through Ephesians, I had another new thing happen: a second verse stood out. While Ephesians 2:10 is my main focus verse for 2016, I was given a supporting verse to help me do the good works which God has prepared in advance for me to do. I made another picture but this one I wrote as a prayer using Ephesians 6:19.

In Jesus' Name, AMEN! 

I'm excited (and a little nervous) for God's plan for me in 2016 but I know God is able to do infinitely more than I could think or ask through His mighty power at work within me (Ephesians 3:20). 

Did you pick out a focus Bible verse for 2016? Which one? 

If not, you are welcome to share mine; comment below or message me on Facebook and I'll email you a FREE printable PDF version of it! 

Bible Journaling Playset

Bible Journaling is a fun way to meditate on God's word in an active way.

Today, I'm explaining what I have in my Bible Journaling Kit and a little more of the process. This is great information to get started with your own Bible Journaling but also fun to read to see how I play in God's kingdom. 

JLin's Bible Journaling Playset:

(You can click on the pictures to see them larger.)

1. Medium Sterilite Ultra Basket. I love these things. I have a few bookshelves that home these baskets; mostly organizing books in different genres for my kids. I choose to use one of these baskets for my Bible Journaling Kit to keep all my supplies organized in one place plus have the mobility aspect. With this basket, I can grab it and find a nice quiet spot to work.  

2. Journaling Bible. Is a Journaling Bible any different than a regular Bible?  Yes! The paper in a journaling Bible is more study than a regular Bible plus it has wider margins with lines for notes. This one was a gift I received years ago but I wasn't sure how exactly to use it until recently. It's in the English Standard Translation which is a close word-to-word translation from the hebrew into English.  

3. Crayola Colored Pencils. I choose Crayola because they are good quality color pencils at an affordable price. These are great to add color to drawings in my Journaling Bible. 

4. Mechanical Pencils (not pictured). For my first few journal entries, I did freehand drawings with just colored pencils. This was before I heard that I could outline in pencil first and then color it in! I know, I know, it sounds like a really simple, obvious thing but it hadn't crossed my mind. Now, I tend to draw lightly in pencil first to ensure everything looks on paper how it is in my mind before coloring it in. 

5. White Erasers. Going along with the mechanical pencils, I invested in some "fancy" white erasers. These don't smudge on the paper like the traditional pink erasers. I am happy I added these. I don't consider myself an artist and I make plenty of mistakes ... that I can now erase easily! 

6. Gelatos. These little guys are a bit pricey but a lot of fun. It feels like you are writing with silk when you use them; it's really delightful! My picture below is a bit light, but I wanted it to be. I wanted to draw the breath of the Lord on the page and leave it light enough to be able to still read the words underneath. 

7. Washi Tape. When I first heard those two words I said, "What?" Washi tape is a quick easy way to add a little umph. In the picture above, I used Washi Tape across the top of the page to make it look more pretty and to draw your eye into the page more. I didn't like the empty space at the bottom of the page, so I decided to add a pop of color by sticking on a different piece of Washi Tape. It was an easy way to dress up the page and it took hardly any time to do it.

8. Staedtler Pigment Liners. Simply put, these are black fine-point pens. After drawing a picture in my Bible Journal, I can go over the outline with a Pigment Liner. This helps the image "pop" and stand out more on the page. 

9. Crayola Watercolors. Okay, these I borrowed from my kids (they weren't using them anyway!). When I did research on different methods of Bible Journaling, one of the ways I came across was watercolors! I was a bit nervous to try it out but I braved my way through it as you can see in the picture below. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it was a little hard for me to color outside the lines but I really enjoyed the look of the end result. (I also have some disposable paper cups for water and a paintbrush in my kit so I have everything I need to use the watercolors--minus the water.) 

10. Gesso. Remember how I said I'm a bit of a perfectionist? What I did not like about the watercolor is that it bleed through onto the back side of the page. Not the worst thing in the world but I didn't like it. This lead me to some more research in which I found if I pre-treat the page first, the watercolors won't leak through! Gesso is like a glue I can now paint on the page (and let dry) before doing my Bible Journaling to prevent any color leaking over to the other side of the page.

   

11. Pencil Sharpener. This one is a bit of an indulgence. I like to have all my Bible Journaling tools in my basket so I can move to any location of my choosing to work. The pencil sharpening makes it so I don't need interrupt my journaling to get up and to go the automatic pencil sharpening in my house if I find a dull colored pencil. 

12. Christian Music. I like to listen to Christian music as I work in my Bible Journal. It helps me to stay in a mood of worship as I draw. I will use the free app (also a website) Pandora and go to "Contemporary Christian" radio. I like having the option to "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" songs so it will play mostly Christian songs I enjoy. For a small fee, I have Spotify which I have saved a number of my favorite Christian songs into my own playlist. This is great for when there is a specific theme I want to listen to. 

As I continue to Bible Journal, I may add some more items to my kit but for now I am very happy with all the tools I have available to me. 

If you are thinking about starting Bible Journaling, please don't feel overwhelmed by all my goodies! START SMALL. 

I recommend grabbing a blank piece of paper and pencil (if you have kids, borrow their crayons or colored pencils!), choose your favorite Bible verse, pay attention to what words seems to stand out to you as you read it, then try and draw it out while you listen to Christian music. This way, you can try out Bible Journaling before investing a lot of money into it to be sure you like it. 

(You can read my post on how I got started Bible Journaling here.)

Playing at My Father's Table

I attended a woman's Bible conference this past Saturday and it was fabulous.

I am still processing all the information I received. One item in particular though, I picked up and started running with when I got home:

The idea to "play in God's Kingdom."

It's funny, the night before the conference I had a time of fellowship with some ladies in my local Bible Study group. We each chose a card and had to answer the question on the back.

One question I grabbed was, "What do you enjoy most about your day?" My very first thought was reading my Bible so I said it. But as I thought about it more, I realized while I like to read my Bible everyday, I couldn't really say I enjoy doing it. Sad but true.

The next day at the conference--not by coincidence but by God's grand design--I was introduced to the world of Bible Journaling. What is Bible Journaling you ask? Well, let me tell you.

Bible Journaling is a way to meditate on God's word and enjoy doing it.

It's really hard for me to sit down and focus on one verse. My mind tends wanders somewhere else; no matter how much I want to sit and read a verse, I get distracted by what is going on around me.

Bible Journaling helps me focus.

It gives me something to do with my hands while my mind is focused on the verse. How so? First, I prayerfully consider a verse God has put on my heart, then I find it in my journaling Bible. (Side note here: I received a journaling Bible five years ago but wasn't really sure how to use it. I did take a few notes in it on occasion but was overly worried I would write in a space I would later want to write in and so I didn't use it too much.)

Bible Journaling is a tool to meditate on a verse and then visually show it ... in your Bible.

Check out this entry I made on Colossians 3:12-14:
(Okay, I admit, it's not just one verse but these verses are all connected and I wanted to include them all.)

After you prayerfully choose a verse to focus on, you read the verse again. This time paying close attention to any words that stand out.

For me I saw: put on, chosen ones, beloved, above all, love

Next you take the words you zoned in on and ask yourself, "What would this look like?"

Looking at my list, I realized it's the beloved chosen ones are who are being asked to put on those attributes so I decided to draw a princess--because as a daughter of the Risen King that is exactly what I am. I choose purple for the dress because it's a royal color and I added "LOVE" in the crown because the verse says, "above all these put on love." Now, while the attributes to put on were not in my list of words that stood out to me, I still really wanted to include them, so I knit them on her dress. Lastly, I added yellow rays around her to try to show the holy and beloved aspect a little more.

Just like that I spent an hour meditating on one verse of the Bible without getting distracted.

But you know the best part?

I enjoyed that full 60 minutes.

Grumbling Transformation

I caught myself grumbling in the grocery line last week. 

I'm not a huge fan of grocery shopping to begin with and I went right before lunch. So after stocking up my cart as I trekked through the store I started to unload them onto the checkout counter with my stomach was growling. As I put item after item up on the counter I thought, "I can't stand grocery shopping. I still have to put all these away when I get home before I can eat!" 

I get irritable when I'm hungry, my friend. 

But after I thought that I immediately realized I was thinking about the wrong things. Instead of dwelling on the fact that I was hungry and unhappy that I still had to put my groceries away; I choose to brush those thoughts away and focus on the positive like:

• I am getting groceries to make food to take care of my family.
• I have the money to pay for the food on my list. 
• There is one store I can go to to get all my food. 
• I can eat some food when I get home. 

I was reminded of Philippians 4:8 which says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." 

As we continue into this Thanksgiving season, I challenge you to redirect your thoughts when you catch yourself grumbling. Instead of focusing on the negative, look to the positive. 

Doubts Can Drown You ... If You Let Them

A Prayer For You

Father God,

You need only speak and it happens. 

When we consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made us a little lower than the angels, and crowned us with glory and honor. You made us rulers over the works of your hands and put everything under our feet. 

Thank You for loving us so much, that you sent your one and only Son to die for us so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. 

You yourself go before us and you will be with us, God you will never leave us or forsake us, help us not to be afraid or discouraged. For you did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity but of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-DISCIPLINE. 

Whether we turn to the right or to the left, open our ears so we will hear your voice behind us saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” 

In Jesus Name I declare this, amen. 

(Genesis 1. Psalm 8:3-6; John 3:16; Deuteronomy 31:8; 2 Timothy 1:7; Isaiah 30:21)

The Gracious Patience of God

God is graciously patient. 

It amazes just how patient He is with me. I tend to try to use my limited human understanding and apply it God, assuming He will be frustrated with me because that's how I would feel if I were Him. This is silly of me. God cannot be put into a box. 

Let me show you a little bit of God's gracious patience with me with a condensed version of how He is growing me this year.

There is a women's Bible Study I regularly attend and it is fabulous. At the beginning of the year, every lady is asked to fill out a "Sister Form" with contact information plus a special section at the end for special gifts. When I first attended this Bible Study in January, I deliberately that "special gift" part blank ... because I knew if I filled out my gifts “they” would ask me to help and I was all set. 

But even so, God started planting seeds for me to help with this Bible Study Group on that very first day. God showed me a small need and within my first 15 minutes after coming through those doors, I thought, “I could help with that.” 

Fast forward a couple months, God prompted me to share about how the Evangelism study I was in had been influencing my life. So I shared about how I tend to be like Gideon from Judges 6. I trust God can do anything He says He can. . .but sometimes I have trouble believing He wants to use me to do it. I was approached after my speech and was given an application to apply as a lead volunteer on the Board for this Bible Study. 

I prayed about it for a week, but God in His gracious patience, knew I wasn’t ready yet and through multiple confirmations, He told me to say no.  

When the new Board of volunteers was announced in May, I was really happy to see who God had chosen. . .but at the same time, I felt sad. When I saw the selected five all standing up there together, I felt sadness that I wasn’t up there with them.

I was shocked by this feeling and I did a little prayer right then and said, “God! I know you told me to say no to apply for the Board but then why do I feel sad that I am not up there?” I was reminded, “There is a season for everything.” I accepted that but didn’t think too much more about it because I did not want to think about potentially having that much responsibility in the future. No, thank you. 

Now in June, the selected President of this Bible Study Group, asked me to pray about joining the Board. My first reaction was to say no because I felt I was needed as a volunteer more in my church, but I agreed to pray over it and get back to her with an answer.

 As I was praying, God reminded me of that seed He planted in my heart in January and I was encouraged to take a role on the Board, so I accepted. 

For the next weeks, I would get together with the Bible Study President to discuss, well, Bible Study items. One day in August, we got like usual --but this time she also had a special request for me. Just as she started to explain this request, before she gave me any details, I heard God, loud and clear, “You are going to say yes.” And I’m little taken aback and start to wonder, “What is this I am saying yes to?” But before I can even finish reciting that question in my mind, God continued and said, “She is going to ask you to be President.” 

I’m not kidding, when I say I’m a like little Gideon. Even though I knew she was going to ask me to be President my heartbeat sped up as soon as she said it. And as she went over some of the duties, I began to doubt (does God really want me as President?). 

Are you starting to see why I say God is graciously patient with me? God spoke clearly to me and I still doubted. 

Have you ever been in an intimidating situation where you felt like you were out in the middle of the water way over your head? This is a little like what I was feeling. 

There’s a story in Matthew Chapter 14 verses 22-31 about when the disciples are in a boat during a crazy bad storm and they see what they believe to be a ghost walking on the water. They were terrified and Jesus spoke to them and said, “Don’t be afraid! Take courage, I am here.” Then Peter called out to him, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water. And Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 I’m a little like Peter too, but thankfully God is there waiting for me to call out so He can lift me up. 

Now, as I was praying and getting used to the idea of becoming President of this Bible Study, I was reminded of what I had been asking in my prayers. There is a song called Oceans by Hillsong United, and I would sing that as a prayer to God. The part that really resonated with me goes, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me, take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger.”

God showed me, I could stay where I was comfortable serving this Bible Study OR I could choose to trust Him and let Him answer my prayer to take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, but first I had to answer His call step out of the boat and say yes to becoming President. 

Ephesians 2:10  says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God called me to be President of this Bible Study this year. 

I am God’s handiwork ... and so are you. 

God has already prepared an assignment specifically for you to fulfill. If you are anything like me or Gideon or Peter you might doubt what God is calling you to do. It happens. The important thing is to not let your doubt drown you or distract you from God’s purpose for you. 

Cookie Cutter Conviction

For my eldest's birthday I made my first ever decorated sugar cookies and if you have never decorated cookies, let me tell you it takes a large measure of patience.

By the time I decorated the 3rd cookie, I wanted to give up. I was stressed because every frosting line I attempted was not perfect; but instead of quitting, I asked God to help me finish.

Yes, I prayed to God to help me with something small like decorating cookies. 

But you know what? The Bible says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions and with all kinds of prayers and requests." (Ephesians 6:18a) And because I took the time to pray, God gave me insight into my real issue: I was needlessly stressing myself out trying to make something perfect that was not intended to be perfect in the first place. 

I don't know why I have the desire for a cookie-cutter type perfection (and not just for cookie decorating) but this weekend I made the opportunity to talk with God as I decorated these cookies and it resulted in me asking God to help me let go of my desire for perfection. 

When I finished, I found I actually enjoyed the cookies better with their little mistakes. They weren't boring carbon copies of each other, but each one a little different ... and that's what made them interesting and special. God showed me there is beauty in imperfections.  

Is there anything in your life causing you stress? Could it be due to unrealistic expectations you are forcing on yourself? Take some time and ask God for help--no matter how small or trivial you think the problem is. He wants to help; you only have to ask. 

Arise From the Dead

Awake, Oh Sleeper, arise from the dead!

Today we explore falling spiritually asleep and becoming spiritually dead. (You can probably already tell this is not a good state to be in.)

In the book of Revelation, John shares the revelation "from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants" (Revelation 1:1a) and he writes seven letters to the churches in the province of Asia (in chapters 2 & 3).

We are looking at the fifth church John writes to, the church of Sardis. In Revelation 3:1-2 Jesus said, "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God."

The people in the church in Sardis had become spiritually dead.  They were active in deeds, making them look good on the outside, but on the inside they were corrupt. Probably their intentions weren't in the right places--doing good deeds for the purpose of what they could get out of it and not for God.

Sardis was full of prosperous Jews so it may have been their wealth giving them an overconfident sense of security or maybe their self-satisfaction that lulled them to sleep and lead to their spiritual death. Whatever the case, they stopped depending on God and putting him first in their lives.    

The people of Sardis weren't the only ones with this issue; Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians on the same subject.

In Ephesians 5:10-15 Paul advises, "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, 'Awake, O Sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.' So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise."

When we make excuses or tolerate sinful behavior or compromise our beliefs we start sliding down a slippery slope. Most likely it starts off gradual, with something small; something that could be overlooked as "no big deal." But like a small snowball rolled down a hill it grows bigger and gains momentum as it goes. As the snowball travels downward, it becomes harder to stop and harder to carry back up the hill.

Once you start down a downhill slope, it's hard to stop and get back to where you were when you started. When you ignore sins you start to roll down that hill and fall spiritually asleep.

Unless you do something to change your ways.

So what can we do to avoid becoming spiritually dead? Or how do we wake up if we are already spiritually dead? The Bible shows us what is sin and gives us instructions on which path to take and which to avoid. Revelation 3:3 instructs, "Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again."

Go back to the fundamentals of faith, back to the basics, and from there grow in your knowledge of God--by reading the Bible and applying it to your life. If we hold firmly to these truths, not making excuses for sin or tolerating sin or compromising our beliefs for sin, we will keep ourselves from falling asleep into a spiritual death.

When we repent, we turn from the darkness of sin and live in the light of Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-24 says, "Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy."

We need God to truly live.

In Ezekiel 37, the Lord carries Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones and God asks him if the bones can become living people again. Ezekiel wisely answered, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that." Then comes my favorite part.

Ezekiel 37:4-6 says: Then [God] said to [Ezekiel], "Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, 'Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'

And do you know what happens next? Ezekiel spoke the message, just as God told him too, and as he spoke he heard a rattling sound and the bones came together, and muscles and flesh and skin formed over the bones. God put breath into them and they came to life and stood up on their feet.

When you don't have the spirit of God working in you, you are like those dry dead bones laying in the valley. We need God to breath life into us and make us live again.

I tell you again: Awake, oh sleeper, arise from the dead.


What we talked about today echoes what we learned studying Psalm 1:1-3. If you are to be like the blessed one then you need to be spiritually alive. (If you missed the posts you can read the first one here and the second one here.) 

The Father's Love

It’s hard to picture how great God’s love is. It surpasses knowledge!

The Apostle Paul explains it this way,  “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God,” (Ephesians 3:17b-19).

God’s love is huge. 

In 2010, God gave me a visual sample of his love.

I was attending a women’s Bible conference and the whole time was just being loved on by God as I learned more about him.  One night in particular stands out. We were given a powerful message from Priscilla Shirer then Kari Jobe got up to lead us in worship. I was seated near the back so was able to see the majority of the women. It was beautiful.

Try to envision it: Stretched out before you are 800 women, all different ages, races, sizes all worshiping God. Hands are raised, heads are bowed. There is dancing and swaying but there are also those who are still, deep in prayer. At the bottom of the stage way in the front, you can see (thanks to the camera man) that there are women laying prostrate and others kneeling with their hands stretched out in front of them on the floor. Women are hugging. Others have their arms over each other’s shoulders. There are some tears. And all the while this is going on, our voices are singing “Healer” in harmony. It was amazingly beautiful. 

I was in awe by this touching display of love. It was so cool to the different styles of worship spread out in front of me. I said to God, “Lord! Look at all this love for you!” 

At that moment, He spoke directly to my heart and He said to me, “My love for you is more than all their love for me.” Completely overwhelmed with God’s declaration of love for me, I went into prayer thanking him. What an awesome God we have! 

The love God has for me is no different than the love he has for you. It is greater than we can truly understand in our human minds--it surpasses knowledge. “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins,” (1 John 4:10).

Galatians 4:4-7 explains a little more, "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, 'Abba, Father.' Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir."

I am a child of God! A daughter of the Risen King! And you can be too! (If you aren’t already) All you need to do is simply believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

Have a Happy Father's Day Sunday and be sure to tell our Father in Heaven you love him too. 

To Do or Not To Do (Part 2)

The fork in the road; how do we know which way is the right way?

Today we are continuing to look at Psalm 1:1-3 (the memory verses I was asked to explain).

Last week we examined verses one and two (if you missed it, read here). Quick recap: be careful who you spend your time with, read the Bible daily, and think about what you read. Before we look at verse three, let's read these verses again.

Psalm 1:1:3 reads: 

Blessed is the one 

                        who does not 

                                        walk in step with the wicked

                                        or stand in the way that sinners take

                                        or sit in the company of mockers. 

                        but whose delight

                                          is in the law of the Lord,

                                                        and who meditates on the law day and night. 

                        That person is like a tree, 

                                                         planted by streams of water, 

                                                         which yields it’s fruit in season

                                                         whose leaf does not wither--                                                                        whatever they do prospers. 

Doing what is described in the first two verses helps you become like the tree in verse three; but what does that mean? Do you want to be like a tree? 

Yes, yes you do and here's why.

The tree that is planted by streams of water has roots that are constantly connected to the source it needs to survive. The roots reach deep down into the ground, securing the tree firmly where it's planted, and touch the stream. Trees need water to survive.

The blessed one is like a tree planted by streams of water, connected to God day and night, being sustained by His word.

This tree also yields it's fruit in season. The Bible tells us you can know a person by the fruit they bear. Matthew 7:16-20 says, "You can identify them by their fruits. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions."

Good and bad fruit refer to moral behavior. To have good moral behavior one must live a productive life for God by obeying his teachings and resisting temptation. 

In addition to being planted next to streams and yielding fruit in season, this tree has leaves that do not wither. When I think of withering leaves, I think of a tree that is dying. Sinning leads to death. Ephesians 2:1 says, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins." Ephesians 2:4-5 goes on to say, "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God's grace that you have been saved." 

The last part of verse three tells us the blessed one prospers in whatever she does. This does not mean she won't have suffering or trouble (because the Bible is quite clear that believers will). Just look at 1 Peter 4:12-13 which says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that you are going through, as though something strange were happening to you. Instead be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world." 

This examination of the first three verses in Psalm 1 reminds me of two verses. Matthew 6:33 which says, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." And Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." These verses reinforce what is being said in Psalm 1:1-3. 

So, what does Psalm 1:1-3 teach us? Being careful who you hang out with, reading your Bible, and memorizing scripture is going to help you stay away from sin and obey God. This will make you like the blessed one who is constantly connected to God, lives a productive life, and is alive in Christ.

Which path in the fork in the road will you take? The way of the world that leads to destruction or the way of God that leads to life? 

I choose life. 

Matthew 7:13-14 = Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. 

To Do or Not To Do (Part 1)

It's a sin to do nothing when you know you should do something. Wow. 

Hold up. Let me back up a little. 

After I shared my post on scripture memorization (read original post here), I was asked for my interpretation of Psalm 1:1-3.  I gave a short explanation and after I kept thinking she probably isn't the only person wondering. . .even if she is the only one who asked. 

So, let's look at the meaning of these verses. Due to my long explanation being quite, well, long I'm splitting this into two parts; today, we'll focus on the first two verses and next week examine the third verse.

Psalm 1:1-3 reads: 

Blessed is the one 

                       who does not 

                                        walk in step with the wicked

                                        or stand in the way that sinners take

                                        or sit in the company of mockers. 

                       but whose delight

                                         is in the law of the Lord,

                                                       and who meditates on his law day and night. 

                       That person is like a tree, 

                                                        planted by streams of water, 

                                                        which yields its fruit in season

                                                        and whose leaf does not wither—

                        whatever they do prospers. 

(No, there is nothing wrong with your internet browser; I deliberately split the verses like that. Putting verses into smaller pieces can help you memorize the whole thing.)

The first verse shows us what the blessed one does not do. She does not (1) walk in step with the wicked, (2) stand in the way that sinners take, or (3) sit in the company of mockers. 

One who is “walking in step with the wicked” is actively participating in sin. One who is “standing in the way that sinners take” is taking a position (standing) like a sinner--this is done by justifying sinful activities; saying they are okay when the Bible says they are not. The one who is sitting with mockers is the most passive. Let's imagine a woman, Clara, is sitting on the couch with some friends. Her friends are gossiping and Clara is sitting there listening to it but isn't saying anything. Is Clara sinning? To get insight, we'll look at some scripture that relates to this issue. 

Proverbs 17:4 tells us, "Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander." Simply by sitting with the mockers and listening to the gossip the Bible says Clara is a wrongdoer and a liar. Ouch. 

Ephesians 5:11 says, "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them." No matter how someone takes part of worthless deeds, whether walking, standing, or sitting, she is taking part if she goes along with it. James 4:17 says, "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." 

Now that we've looked at verses in the Bible that relate to this issue, it's time to answer my question. Is Clara sinning? Yes, it is a sin for Clara to sit and listen to gossip. *If you find yourself in a similar situation try to stop it. Expose the gossipers by saying something like, "I'm not interested in hearing rumors," then change the subject. If your "friends" continue gossiping, remove yourself from the situation.* 

To sum up the first verse simply: be careful who you spend your time with. 

Inspirational speaker, Jim Rohn famously said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” If you are spending a lot of time with people who are only pretending to follow God’s commands, chances are you’ll start pretending too. 

Now, how can we know what we ought to do? Look at Psalm 1:2. It tells us that the blessed one delights in and meditates on the law of the Lord. In order to know what we ought to do, we need to know the law of the Lord--which is scripture. By reading the Bible daily and thinking about it, we meditate on God's law. (We are meditating on his law right now by looking at these verses and examining what they mean.) 

When meditating on his laws, it's even better if you memorize scripture-- hiding the verses in your heart like Psalm 119:11 tells us to do. It's important to learn scripture "by heart" so that we won't sin. I like the way the American Standard Version translates Psalm 119:11: "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." I like the imagery of "storing up" God's word in my heart better than "hiding" it. They both mean the same thing, but it's easier for me to visualize storing God's word. 

I don't know about you but I want to meditate on God's word, store it up in my heart, and let it transform me. I want to be like the blessed one. 

There is a fork in the road before us, one is God's way and the other is the way of the world, which path will you take?

Meditate on His Laws

Scripture memorization. Not my strong suit.

Typically, I can remember parts of verses but have no clue where in the Bible it is from. Which is fine but I want to be able to remember full the verse and where it is in the Bible. 

Thus, the newest addition to my to-do list: scripture memorization. 

To make it a little more fun and enjoyable, I decided to make the verses God led me to chose for this week look cute. This way I will enjoy looking at it, so I will read it more, and reading it more should lead to memorizing it. Easy peasy! 

Instead of keeping this to myself, I am sharing it here so maybe you can get some enjoyment out of it also. Feel free to print it out, like I did, and hang it up somewhere you will frequently see it (like the fridge, the bathroom mirror, or next to your computer). 

Let me know if you tried it and if works for you! 

JLin uses the NIV (New International Version) translation for scripture memorization. 

P.S. Does anyone else find it fitting that the verses God led me to memorize this week are about meditating on his law day and night? 

Life in Death

My dad died six years ago and I still don’t like to talk about it. 

One month before it happened, my husband and I had moved across the country. Five days before “the call,” my husband deployed; leaving me to fly with an one and a two year-old by myself.

Yet, I was happy when my dad died.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want him to be gone and I was mournful but at the same time I was happy. My father had been suffering with sickness for years and I knew he was Saved (meaning he accepted Jesus as His Lord and Savior). I could be happy within that great sadness because I knew my father moved to a place where there is no more suffering, no more tears, and no more pain (Revelation 21:4). 

I remember sitting in the front row of his funeral, crying quietly, unable to focus. I kept thinking, “I can’t do this. I have to leave. I can’t do this,” while trying to focus on simply breathing. But guess what? I made it through. I survived and soon I would learn how to thrive.

You see, the whole painful experience pushed me closer to Jesus. I had believed in God for as I long as I could remember but I hadn’t learned how to apply His teachings to my life. After the funeral, when I made it back cross-country with my young children, I realized I needed to find a church. I didn’t just want to get closer to God, I knew I needed to. 

I found a women’s Bible study and joined partway into Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer. It was exactly what I needed to hear. I remember praying and thanking God for bringing me there and pushing me to go (because I needed that push). From that moment on, God lit a spark in my heart. I started attending Bible studies, became involved in church, and started living out His word (to the best of my ability!). 

God took a bad situation and He turned it around to use for my good. God had been calling me closer to Him for years but I let things get in my way to prevent it. This made me spiritually dead because of my disobedience (Ephesians 1:18). Then my dad died and I was forced to rely on God. By showing me how to access the Holy Spirit and how to hear from Him, God used this situation to put breath into me and made me live again (Ezekiel 37:5).

I don’t like talking about my dad’s death because I don’t like to remember all that sadness. So instead of focusing on that hurt, I am choosing to look at all the good that came out of it. Just like in Romans 8:28, I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. He took my dad’s death and used it to push me to Him and bring me to life. 

Today, God is pushing me out of my comfort zone—I didn’t want to start a blog. Obviously, I obeyed God and started JLin writes. I took my own advice from “I’m a Little Gideon” and took a step of faith to get out of the boat. God called me and I am answering, “Here I am Lord, send me!”  

God Makes It Grow

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I'm a Little Gideon

Hi, I’m JLin and I’m a little Gideon. 

If you know anything about that Bible story it’s not exactly a compliment. In Judges 6, Gideon questions God five times before he does what God is asking him to do. I like this story because I don’t think Gideon was doubtful because he didn’t think God could do it. . .he was doubtful because he didn’t think he could do it. He came from the weakest tribe of Manasseh AND he was the least in his entire family; but in the end he trusted God and he went with the strength he had and he was victorious. 

Which brings us back to me. I’m a little Gideon, I believe God will do what He says He will. . .it’s just sometimes I have a hard time believing he wants to use me to do it. 

I choose to do a Bible study on Evangelism and it challenged me. Reaching out to people who are not saved is a big part of Evangelism but I also feel it is very important to love on those who already believe as well. In Matthew Chapter 5 verses 14 to 16 it says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Notice it does not say, “let your light shine only before unbelievers.” No, you are the light of the world—that’s everyone.

But why do we need to be a light for believers? As Christians, we go through “deserts” in our lives, dry seasons. This is where we struggle and maybe have a hard time keeping our eyes on Jesus instead of the waves of turmoil in our life. In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus is walking on the water during a raging storm and Peter asks if he can go to him. Jesus called him out of the boat onto the water. Peter kept his eyes on Jesus and he actually walked on water! But what happened when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus? And noticed the wind and the waves? He started to sink. But then he called out to Jesus and immediately Jesus pulled Peter back up. Even, believers need help sometimes. 

God has called me to write encouragement cards and so far, most of my cards have been sent to women who I know follow Jesus; but maybe they are going through a desert I don’t know about. A lot of prayer goes into this.

I have written 19 of these cards so far this year and not one of them has been the same but it is a complete test of faith each and every time. As I’m writing I’ll doubt and ask questions like, “God, I haven’t really spoken to her lately, are you sure I’m not going to sound like a creepy stalker by saying how awesome I think she is?”

I’m a little Gideon! Since starting these cards, He has given me lots of confirmations to encourage me I am in His will and doing exactly what He has called me to do. I have gotten these confirmations both through His Word and from some of the women I’ve sent the cards too.

Now, there are still times when I don’t feel qualified to do God’s will but He is incredibly patient and gently encourages me. 

So if you are at a point right now, where you think God maybe might possibly be asking you to do something and you are thinking, “God, I can’t do that.” I’m here to encourage you that “yes you can!” Deuteronomy 31:8 tells us, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Nothing surprises God. If you still aren’t positive God is calling you, be like Gideon!  It’s okay to ask for confirmation and it’s okay to ask for it more than once! 

If you only remember one thing from what I say today remember this: *God loves you, He knows you and he still wants to use you.* There are certain people on earth that only you can reach, of course it is only by God’s grace that anyone is saved, but he uses us to plant the seeds that he will grow, just like in 1 Corinthians 3:6 when Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” God has included us in His plan.

God has called me—and you are reading this so I think he’s calling you too—to be the salt and light of this world. His city on the hill. So what are you waiting for?

Get out of the boat, keep your eyes on Jesus, and shine bright, my friends. 

~This post has been adapted from it's original format. JLin wrote this as a speech for a women's Bible study group on April 16th, 2015. She has slightly changed the wording so it makes sense for this online audience. 

JLin writes

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