It is the first day of school in our community. I can sense the emptiness of the neighborhood. It is quieter, fewer cars driving by our house, fewer kids walking or biking by, no happy screams of little girls running around the yard. Of course it is also 59 degrees and there is a gale force wind threatening to blow the house down so it would probably be quiet today anyway but, still, I know, the houses are all empty around me.
(I will not discuss the fact that I am wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt, socks, slippers and my house sweater because I have sent that part of my brain to my happy place and am pretending this is temporary and doesn't bother me at all.)
The precious folly of my youth is now a junior in high school. How, HOW did that happen? He amazes and humbles me every day as I watch him grow. Juniors and Seniors don't start school until noon the first day so they can prepare the sophomores in the morning for the high school experience. This gave me a chance to really spend some time with him on the first day of school and allowed him to finish that final summer reading assignment before he had to rush off to turn it in. Hopefully not a sign of things to come this year...oh who am I kidding, it is exactly a sign of things to come.
I usually choose a verse or something for school but hadn't really thought about it this year. I guess I figured we had a family verse instead and I would just pray that over him. But when I started thinking of it this morning Romans 8:37 came to me, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Conquerors. Somehow that word seems so fitting for going into his junior year.
This is the year all his friends (and soon hopefully him) are driving, he will hopefully be getting a year round job and with all that comes much more independence and many more temptations and decisions to be made without his parents present to help him make the best choices. When temptations come I want him to remember he is "More than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves Jake" (v37) the scriptures goes on to say and I want Jake to be "convinced that, neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate Jake from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(v 38-39) And earlier in the passage you hear the battle cry for the 11th grade warrior going off to conquer the temptations that await him, "if God is for me, who can be against me?" (v 31)
That is my prayer for Jake during this school year.
But, since he usually has to be to school by 7:30, starting tomorrow I will probably be praying it from bed.
Showing posts with label scripture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scripture. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Seek First
I am looking back through my posts because I can't remember what I have said the past couple months about what God has been teaching me and didn't want to repeat myself. I am now remembering how little I have blogged but instead just sat in my thoughts this summer.
I usually puke them out to you all the moment I have a thought but have been in a season of just sitting and listening. It has been refreshing. I realize how often I run ahead of God. A quick prayer and I am off and running without waiting for the response, one of the many things God was talking to me about this summer.
I was going to start at the beginning but as I was reviewing my journal I can't really see where there is a beginning just a process. So I guess you will receive each thought individually as I decide to share.
Boy! That introduction really is setting me up to tell you alot of deep stuff. It really isn't that deep but it has been meaningful to me to sit with God and find a peace I really needed during a time in life full of transition.
This summer God led me to what is going to be our family verse for the next year. Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."
It isn't an original verse but I really have been feeling lately that the impact of some of the popular verses gets lost because of how often it is referred to. Yet they are common verses because of the powerful truths contained in them. So this year as a family we are going to study some of the scriptures that you hear so often you don't even think about them. But I am getting ahead of myself. I will tell you about that some other day.
Our family talked about the Matthew 6:33 seek first scripture during our weekend away this summer. We spent time really looking at the context of the scripture, before it Jesus is asking the people why they are worrying so much. Jesus points out how clearly he provides for all his creatures and reminds the people (us) of how much more he loves them (us) and so will clearly provide for them (us) as well. My sister had an amazing experience recently to further emphasize that point.
So we don't have to worry because God provides for all our needs. And lest we are worried He doesn't know what we need Jesus assures us He does, v32 "and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."
Apparently Jesus was worried we wouldn't know how to properly spend all the free time we would have if we stopped worrying, a valid concern since we had been wasting it worrying before, so in the next verse he tells us what to do, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things (all our needs that we have been worrying about) will be given to you as well."
But then we (OK me but I drag the whole family along on my journeys) wondered what the word Seek really meant. How exactly do you go about Seeking God? I copied that page out of the old dictionary we have as John was packing the car for the weekend so we could answer this burning question I knew my family would have when we discussed this verse.
Seek: To make search or enquiry for; to look for; to strive after
My men were rivoted to their seats as I read the definition of "seek" to them. Still we did have wonderful discussion about what that would mean for us both as a family and individually to seek God in our lives. We talked about finding time, reading scripture and devotionals, priorities and prayer.
Of course we can't ignore the word "first" in this discussion. I figured we knew what that meant so I didn't copy that definition out of the dictionary. But I did have Jake read the story of Jehoshaphat. I didn't know exactly where in the bible it was but figured somewhere in the history of Israel. Lucky for us God knew where it was and had Jake open his bible right to it.
The weekend before I had been at She Speaks and one of the main speakers had focussed on this story from the old Testement. I will let you go read it yourself (In 2 Chronicles 20 in case you don't open right to it as well.) The basic story is that Judah is under attack (again) and it isn't looking good (as usual). When Jehoshaphat hears about this impending doom he...Seeks First!
"Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came togeher to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him."
OK so lets say I am lounging around the house on a typical morning preparing to have my queit time when a friend calls and asks if she can come over in an hour. The first thing I will do when I get off the phone is...start picking up the house, get dressed because I am still in PJ's, wipe down the bathroom and wonder if I have any food to serve her. When even a slight change in my schedule occurs I do not think to stop and seek God before I prepare. When problems come into my life do I first seek God or do I first start solving the problem? More often than not the answer is solve the problem.
Yet with a "vast amy" bearing down on Jehoshaphat what does he do? Gather the troops? Sharpen the blades? Reinforce the city? Map out a battle plan? NO. He first seeks God. And upon doing so discovers what a waste of time getting ready for a battle would have been since God tells him they won't have to fight. So instead he puts together a choir to sing praises to God and sends them out in front of the troops. This of course would make no sense to anyone else but Jehosphaphat and the people of Judah had sought God first and they knew there was nothing to worry about. Sure enough by the time they reached the other army everyone was dead and Judah's army never lifted a finger.
So that is what we are doing this year as a family. Seeking God. Seeking Him first. Seeking to discover what he has for us when we let go of our worry, stop thinking about our own needs and turn our eyes and our hearts toward God.
I usually puke them out to you all the moment I have a thought but have been in a season of just sitting and listening. It has been refreshing. I realize how often I run ahead of God. A quick prayer and I am off and running without waiting for the response, one of the many things God was talking to me about this summer.
I was going to start at the beginning but as I was reviewing my journal I can't really see where there is a beginning just a process. So I guess you will receive each thought individually as I decide to share.
Boy! That introduction really is setting me up to tell you alot of deep stuff. It really isn't that deep but it has been meaningful to me to sit with God and find a peace I really needed during a time in life full of transition.
This summer God led me to what is going to be our family verse for the next year. Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."
It isn't an original verse but I really have been feeling lately that the impact of some of the popular verses gets lost because of how often it is referred to. Yet they are common verses because of the powerful truths contained in them. So this year as a family we are going to study some of the scriptures that you hear so often you don't even think about them. But I am getting ahead of myself. I will tell you about that some other day.
Our family talked about the Matthew 6:33 seek first scripture during our weekend away this summer. We spent time really looking at the context of the scripture, before it Jesus is asking the people why they are worrying so much. Jesus points out how clearly he provides for all his creatures and reminds the people (us) of how much more he loves them (us) and so will clearly provide for them (us) as well. My sister had an amazing experience recently to further emphasize that point.
So we don't have to worry because God provides for all our needs. And lest we are worried He doesn't know what we need Jesus assures us He does, v32 "and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."
Apparently Jesus was worried we wouldn't know how to properly spend all the free time we would have if we stopped worrying, a valid concern since we had been wasting it worrying before, so in the next verse he tells us what to do, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things (all our needs that we have been worrying about) will be given to you as well."
But then we (OK me but I drag the whole family along on my journeys) wondered what the word Seek really meant. How exactly do you go about Seeking God? I copied that page out of the old dictionary we have as John was packing the car for the weekend so we could answer this burning question I knew my family would have when we discussed this verse.
Seek: To make search or enquiry for; to look for; to strive after
My men were rivoted to their seats as I read the definition of "seek" to them. Still we did have wonderful discussion about what that would mean for us both as a family and individually to seek God in our lives. We talked about finding time, reading scripture and devotionals, priorities and prayer.
Of course we can't ignore the word "first" in this discussion. I figured we knew what that meant so I didn't copy that definition out of the dictionary. But I did have Jake read the story of Jehoshaphat. I didn't know exactly where in the bible it was but figured somewhere in the history of Israel. Lucky for us God knew where it was and had Jake open his bible right to it.
The weekend before I had been at She Speaks and one of the main speakers had focussed on this story from the old Testement. I will let you go read it yourself (In 2 Chronicles 20 in case you don't open right to it as well.) The basic story is that Judah is under attack (again) and it isn't looking good (as usual). When Jehoshaphat hears about this impending doom he...Seeks First!
"Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came togeher to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him."
OK so lets say I am lounging around the house on a typical morning preparing to have my queit time when a friend calls and asks if she can come over in an hour. The first thing I will do when I get off the phone is...start picking up the house, get dressed because I am still in PJ's, wipe down the bathroom and wonder if I have any food to serve her. When even a slight change in my schedule occurs I do not think to stop and seek God before I prepare. When problems come into my life do I first seek God or do I first start solving the problem? More often than not the answer is solve the problem.
Yet with a "vast amy" bearing down on Jehoshaphat what does he do? Gather the troops? Sharpen the blades? Reinforce the city? Map out a battle plan? NO. He first seeks God. And upon doing so discovers what a waste of time getting ready for a battle would have been since God tells him they won't have to fight. So instead he puts together a choir to sing praises to God and sends them out in front of the troops. This of course would make no sense to anyone else but Jehosphaphat and the people of Judah had sought God first and they knew there was nothing to worry about. Sure enough by the time they reached the other army everyone was dead and Judah's army never lifted a finger.
So that is what we are doing this year as a family. Seeking God. Seeking Him first. Seeking to discover what he has for us when we let go of our worry, stop thinking about our own needs and turn our eyes and our hearts toward God.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Search for the Perfect Scripture
Since last fall my son has been attending a class on Sunday nights (at the church he attends on Wednesday nights)called AUG (Approved Unto God). It is sort of a confirmation class and Seminary Theology class all rolled into one and then tailored for the 9th grader. He has been learning about various aspects of the Christian faith, memorizing scripture and being tested on all of it each week. Very similar to the confirmation class he took at our church. The graduation banquet is coming up in May and we, the parents, are supposed to come up with a scripture verse to share as part of the graduation. Incidentally John and I both took this class in 9th grade and officially met on the missions trip that follows the class. But that is another story...
Here is a little trivia about me. I am a very good at delegating. My skill in life is not that I have alot of skills but that I find people to make me look good. And so I immediately emailed a friend of mine and asked her if she could think of a good verse for my son. I know my limitations and I do not have the spiritual gift of knowledge, I cannot pull a verse out of the air that is the prefect answer to any question. Yet I want the perfect verse and I knew my friend had that gift. So she sends me 2 wonderful verses and I immediately love the first one, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at, man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." I Sam 16:7. My friend shared that she felt a connection between Jake and David and that is what led her to that verse. It really is perfect in so many ways as I have so often shared with her how I desire to raise and nurture my children's hearts rather than focus on specific behaviors or appearances. So I shared it with Jake to see what he thought. He wondered what it had to do with him. I realized as he spoke that it really wasn't about him, it was about me and my parenting. So now I had the theme verse of my parenting but still no verse for Jake. Jake and I talked about my friend's idea of a connection to David and we decided we saw more of a connection to Paul as Jake is desiring to go into ministry. So now feeling a little more competent with a little direction I went in search of a verse from Paul's writings. I soon found myself in Timothy thinking about Paul's mentoring of Timothy and passing on his ministry to him. Then I found Paul's charge to Timothy and what I thought was the perfect verse, "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14. My friend also went to work with the Paul direction and found a great one actually related to Paul, Jake..."He anointed you, set his seal of ownership on you, and put his Spirit in your heart as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Cor 1:21-22
I feel like Jake is at a turning point in his life, has been for a while but this banquet sort of becomes the concrete turn. He is going from being my little boy who follows me and my guidance in his faith development to taking responsibility for his own relationship with Christ and continuing his growth without my direct influence. Yes I will still be there making suggestions, sending him to church, buying him devotional books, asking him to pray about things, etc. But I am past the stage of being able to make him think what I say, I am not reading a devotion book to him each night anymore and kneeling by his bed to pray. I miss those days but it has been so rewarding to see the fruit of that labor as Jake has begun to develop his own sense of his faith, has made many godly choices and is feeling the call to ministry at this stage of his life. I am excited to see how it plays out in the coming years before he leaves high school and what God does with him as he launches into the world.
So I like the first verse because I feel like it comes from that sense of starting my letting go of responsibility for his spiritual development but encouraging him to continue on the path he is on because he knows the people who have set him on that path (not just me but many people who have had a godly influence on his life), the foundation of scripture in his life and how all of that is making him wise for his future.
I like the second one because of the sense of God calling him (anointing, seal) and preparing him for the plans He has for Jake. And how God, not me, has been preparing him for that future (His Spirit in his heart as a deposit). And I think of my prayer for him since he was a baby that he would grow to serve God in whatever he does and how God knows and has always known what that will be (guaranteeing what is to come).
Sometimes I wonder if I make it too complicated. I believe for his infant dedication we chose Proverbs 3:5-6 as his verse. (This was before I mastered delgating.) I always thought it was "lame" to choose such a common and obvious verse and felt like it didn't make us seem very "spiritual". (You understand it is all about us, right?). But what is wrong with that verse? It is brilliant really. If we all just lived out that verse, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.", wouldn't we all end up in God's perfect will for our lives? And isn't that ultimately what I want for my son?
However, I want to appear more intellectual and spiritual so I will be choosing one of the 2 more complex verses. :) Your thoughts? Since this is my "year of Prayer" I guess I will be spending some time in prayer over the next week or 2 before I have to turn in my decision.
I am also supposed to send in a few pictures of my darling for this banquet and was planning to post the baby picture of him I have chosen but it hasn't been scanned in yet by my husband and I like to pretend I don't know how to do these things to avoid the frustration of having to actually do them myself. So check back later and I will post it when I get it. Update...apparently we need a new scanner...possibly a better quality picture if I can find someone with a better scanner...but wasn't he cute...
------------------------------------------
Side note: Lest you think my husband doesn't do the projects I ask him to do after seeing the still broken door knob in my last post and reading in the comments that my sister thought my post about fixing things was funny, you will be happy to know that my door knob is fixed, I can open my front door with ease and it cost us no money. :)
Here is a little trivia about me. I am a very good at delegating. My skill in life is not that I have alot of skills but that I find people to make me look good. And so I immediately emailed a friend of mine and asked her if she could think of a good verse for my son. I know my limitations and I do not have the spiritual gift of knowledge, I cannot pull a verse out of the air that is the prefect answer to any question. Yet I want the perfect verse and I knew my friend had that gift. So she sends me 2 wonderful verses and I immediately love the first one, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at, man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." I Sam 16:7. My friend shared that she felt a connection between Jake and David and that is what led her to that verse. It really is perfect in so many ways as I have so often shared with her how I desire to raise and nurture my children's hearts rather than focus on specific behaviors or appearances. So I shared it with Jake to see what he thought. He wondered what it had to do with him. I realized as he spoke that it really wasn't about him, it was about me and my parenting. So now I had the theme verse of my parenting but still no verse for Jake. Jake and I talked about my friend's idea of a connection to David and we decided we saw more of a connection to Paul as Jake is desiring to go into ministry. So now feeling a little more competent with a little direction I went in search of a verse from Paul's writings. I soon found myself in Timothy thinking about Paul's mentoring of Timothy and passing on his ministry to him. Then I found Paul's charge to Timothy and what I thought was the perfect verse, "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14. My friend also went to work with the Paul direction and found a great one actually related to Paul, Jake..."He anointed you, set his seal of ownership on you, and put his Spirit in your heart as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Cor 1:21-22
I feel like Jake is at a turning point in his life, has been for a while but this banquet sort of becomes the concrete turn. He is going from being my little boy who follows me and my guidance in his faith development to taking responsibility for his own relationship with Christ and continuing his growth without my direct influence. Yes I will still be there making suggestions, sending him to church, buying him devotional books, asking him to pray about things, etc. But I am past the stage of being able to make him think what I say, I am not reading a devotion book to him each night anymore and kneeling by his bed to pray. I miss those days but it has been so rewarding to see the fruit of that labor as Jake has begun to develop his own sense of his faith, has made many godly choices and is feeling the call to ministry at this stage of his life. I am excited to see how it plays out in the coming years before he leaves high school and what God does with him as he launches into the world.
So I like the first verse because I feel like it comes from that sense of starting my letting go of responsibility for his spiritual development but encouraging him to continue on the path he is on because he knows the people who have set him on that path (not just me but many people who have had a godly influence on his life), the foundation of scripture in his life and how all of that is making him wise for his future.
I like the second one because of the sense of God calling him (anointing, seal) and preparing him for the plans He has for Jake. And how God, not me, has been preparing him for that future (His Spirit in his heart as a deposit). And I think of my prayer for him since he was a baby that he would grow to serve God in whatever he does and how God knows and has always known what that will be (guaranteeing what is to come).
Sometimes I wonder if I make it too complicated. I believe for his infant dedication we chose Proverbs 3:5-6 as his verse. (This was before I mastered delgating.) I always thought it was "lame" to choose such a common and obvious verse and felt like it didn't make us seem very "spiritual". (You understand it is all about us, right?). But what is wrong with that verse? It is brilliant really. If we all just lived out that verse, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.", wouldn't we all end up in God's perfect will for our lives? And isn't that ultimately what I want for my son?
However, I want to appear more intellectual and spiritual so I will be choosing one of the 2 more complex verses. :) Your thoughts? Since this is my "year of Prayer" I guess I will be spending some time in prayer over the next week or 2 before I have to turn in my decision.
I am also supposed to send in a few pictures of my darling for this banquet and was planning to post the baby picture of him I have chosen but it hasn't been scanned in yet by my husband and I like to pretend I don't know how to do these things to avoid the frustration of having to actually do them myself. So check back later and I will post it when I get it. Update...apparently we need a new scanner...possibly a better quality picture if I can find someone with a better scanner...but wasn't he cute...
------------------------------------------
Side note: Lest you think my husband doesn't do the projects I ask him to do after seeing the still broken door knob in my last post and reading in the comments that my sister thought my post about fixing things was funny, you will be happy to know that my door knob is fixed, I can open my front door with ease and it cost us no money. :)
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