distractions, idols and a gift

Yesterday, I was reminded once again of a gift that's been placed in my hands.  It's the most valuable gift of anything else I've ever been given, and yet I seem to ignore it's value and the undeniable difference it can make in my life.

 

 devotion from Abundant Life by Nancy Guthrie

The struggle is close way to close to home for comfort. It's a struggle of simple distraction and busyness --  TV, internet, iPhones, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest. It's a battle for the need to feel connected - but wanting to be connected to the wrong things.  It's a struggle of setting out to do one thing, and ending up doing 15 other things. It's a struggle of allowing seemingly "good" things to have a negative impact in my life.  It's a struggle of priorities and idols.

See, because as humbling as it is to say, anything that I give more of my time and thoughts to than I do my relationship with Christ- is an idol in my life.

They aren't the idols we typically think of, but they are things we turn to many times, before turning to God.

I'll admit, I've done it.  I've sat down to have my quiet time with the Lord, my phone setting next to me. I say to myself "I'll just check my email really quick before I start" But then I also respond to a text, make a few additions to the grocery list because they just popped in my head,  jump over to Facebook, catch up Instagram.

All while my Bible sits on my lap.

These other things can be consuming.  And I forget that God has the desire to consume completely himself.

Eventually I open my Bible and get my "quiet time" in.  But I didn't give him the best of me.
I gave him my leftover time.

 

And then I complain...I can't get it all done.  I have way too much on my plate.

I get frazzled and stressed, I get short with my family, and negative in my thoughts and words.

But sitting right there in front of me, are the things that matter the most, the ones that matter forever - right there in the pages of God's Holy Word.

The answer to everything.  The way to do life.  And the message of God's love for me, and the grace I'm given every single day when I get frazzled and stressed, and short with my family

 

1 Corinthians 10:23 has been a huge verse for me over the last few months.

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.”

It is crazy to think of all the things we can make idols out of.  Working out, beauty, blogging, facebook, body image, food, money, a job, an opportunity, keeping up with the Jones'...

Lately, I have thought a lot about the legacy that I'm leaving behind.  I, like most moms today, am so busy taking care of my home, trying to support my husband and raise our kids, and many of us also working to help meet financial needs as well.  And that busyness can get very much in the way of what truly matters. Will our children remember us by our deep, growing passion for God, or will we be remembered for things that don’t matter? If I have the right to do something, is it really beneficial and constructive?  What am I doing that is making a difference.  What will my children remember the most about their years at home with me?
Are my efforts for today, or are my efforts for eternity?

I have the freedom to choose God first. 
And I have the freedom not to.

 

Being in His Word, giving Him the best of me, and spending time with Him each day is a true blessing, and a gift each day. 
Why is it so easy to forget this? 



encouragement

I am so thankful that the Lord uses so many different things around me to encourage my heart.  Sometimes it's a friend, a book, a passage of scripture, a new understanding, or a song.  But whatever it is, encouragement is kind of like little love notes left for us in the midst of our busy days.
So I wanted to share a few of the ways that my heart has been encouraged lately, in hopes that maybe it will help bring some encouragement to someone else. 


Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up...
1 Thessalonians 5:11
 

 

The Promised One, by Nancy Guthrie

  It's going to be really hard to really explain to you how much I have enjoyed this study and what an impact it's had on me.  Let's just say it is far at the top of my list of best studies I've ever done.  I'm sure that my perspective and limited understanding of the Bible as a whole is very similar to many others'.  I grew up hearing the hero and miracle stories, and have also understood that in the heart of the book, you'll find the Gospel and hope for eternity.  But I also grew to view the Bible as primarily a book of rules and guidelines of how we should be living our lives.  While part of my understandings were correct, the Bible does guide us to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord out of love and devotion to him, so much of my understanding has been so very skewed.
I am learning in such a powerful way that the Bible is not just a book full of disconnected stories of great men who do great things for the Lord.  In fact, to be perfectly honest, my journey of understanding the Bible in a new and more meaningful way began a few years ago when we first opened The Jesus Storybook Bible with our children. Best children's bible ever!  I would have never imagined it would speak to me way more than it was speaking to my children as we read through every page.  And now Nancy Guthrie's study of Genesis is adding to this understanding even more, as it is helping me to truly see Jesus and hear his name whispered from the very beginning of creation.  He isn't a Savior who showed up in the middle of the story, he's a Savior who was there all along.  And the story is one of a great rescue plan that unfolds through every page.

 This study has given me the desire more than ever to continue turning every page of the bible, even after my study of Genesis is over, to really truly see God's plan to bring us back into oneness with him.
Here are some things from my journaled  that popped out the most to me...

*The Bible is not primarily about what God wants us to do but about who God wants us to see.
*This is not just a story outside of us, but a story God is accomplishing in us through Christ. (We are a PART of this story, just like the great men of the bible!)
*Sometimes when we think we've got Jesus all figured out, we simply can't hear or can't see that our understanding is distorted or diminished.  And sometimes we think we have Jesus figured out when really all we've done is create in our own minds the Jesus we want, the Jesus we can be comfortable with.
 

 

 

The Bible Series on The History Channel

 

 Are you watching??  Oh, it's so good!  It comes with it's own controversy, as anything does, but overall, the message of God's love and faithfulness and his plan to rescue the world is weaved into every story. It's violent, so obviously it's not something our 5 and 6 year old are watching, other than the occasional clip. But regardless of any of the complaints out there, I think the bottom line is that millions of people are hearing the powerful stories of God, through a series that is getting their attention, and possibly causing them to open their bibles for the first time ever.
Even being a believer, the series has me wanting to read and read and read and hear these stories again straight from the Bible.

 

 

Duck Dynasty on A&E
 

 I know, I know, kind of funny this is on my list.  But I have definitely been encouraged by this new series.  Maybe not so much the show itself, but more just learning about who the Robertson Family is, and their genuine faith in God and the platform they have to share the Gospel.  When there is so much yucky stuff filling the TV these days, the Robertson family is a breath of fresh air. I know millions of people are falling in love with this family and their funny antics on the show, and it's so encouraging to know that the real life people of this show are pointing people to Jesus.

 

 

Real Moms, Real Jesus  by Jill Savage

I think I've mentioned this book before. It's the book I'm doing with my bible study group.  And the Lord has brought this book at the perfect timing, in the perfect season of my life. If you're a mom who has ever felt like there's just not enough of you to go around, or the needs around you on a day to day basis are overwhelming, or that you just have too much on your plate, I know you'll find encouragement through this book. He is the friend who understands and who loves us regardless of our faults.  He's the friend who will never leave you feeling lonely, even during seasons that may leave you feeling super lonely in the friendship department.

Some of my favorite underlines in the book:
*My children need to learn who Jesus is first, through my character.  I need to aspire to be like Jesus - tender, compassionate, & gentle in my interactions with other people.
*There's a God-shaped hole in each of our hearts, and whether we realize it or not, we are constantly trying to fill it. Every time we try to fill that hole with something other than God we build an idol: a false God in our life.  The more we pursues the false god, the moer we turn our worship (deeming something worth our time and energy) away from the Creator and more toward the created.  And we'll always come up short every time.
*There are seasons of my life when I move along and kind of forget to talk with God.  Life's going along just fine and so long as there's no crisis, I unconsciously move God from the front burner to the back burner.  "What's wrong with that?" you might ask.  In reality many of us go day after day without praying.  Is that really a sin?  Well, it's a sin of pride because pride says "I can do it on my own, thank you very much.  I don't need your help, God.
*When your mind is cluttered, you are not mentally available to your family.
*Jesus understands what you're going through.  His friends disappointed Him, but He is the one Friend who will never disappoint us.

 

 

Abundant Life
a devotion book by Nancy Guthrie

One of my favorite devotion books of all time is the Hope book, by Nancy Guthrie, that was given to me by my dear friend Jess, after she found such encouragement in it's pages, after her sweet Cora died.  I read it through all the way and then over again.  I finally went on the search for a new devotion book. I always like starting my quiet time with the Lord with a devotion book, it clears my mind, and prepares my heart.  I found another one by Nancy Guthrie, called Abundant Life.    
I absolutely love the perspective this is written in, as if God is talking personally with me.  Each day it's like a little love note from my Savior, and I love the prayer that is included that helps me make it more personal.



So there you go.  Just a few of the sources of my encouragement lately.
Where are you finding your encouragement lately?
I pray you are finding in the only One who gives your life a purpose and an eternal future.
Find ways to get to know him more, and I promise you'll be SUPER encouraged!