A Bible That's Falling Apart

I remember a few years back I couldn't find my Bible. I'd looked in all the places I thought it would be. Now, I have four Bibles that I primarily use, but this one was different. This was the Bible I use when I'm really studying, really seeking. The others I only use with that Bible or to take to church on Sundays. But this Bible was different, this Bible was special. I started looking through all the books on my bookshelf. By the time I had reached the bottom shelf, I was on my hands and knees. I kept looking for the back binder cover so I could easily locate the Bible. I finally found it, but there was no back binder cover on it. I pulled it off the shelf , dusted it off and looked at it's state. The whole back was missing along with the back binder cover. I began to flip through the pages and saw the discoloration and lovingly marked passages. And then it struck me, I couldn't find what I was looking for till I was on my knees.

It was a convicting moment in my life. Looking at my Bible was a reminder of where my heart once was with God. The hours I had spent in the Word. The fact I had no idea where my Bible even was should give you a good idea of where my heart had gone. The fact that I couldn't find my Bible till I was on my knees, was a reminder that to get what we are looking for with God we have to humble ourselves before Him before ever expecting anything from Him.

The word of God is powerful. It's hard to wrap your mind around it. God spoke creation into existence. Through His Word He speaks life into our lives. He creates something new in us. But we have to seek it out. We have to be in the word.

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

When we immerse ourselves in the Word of God we are immersing ourselves in God. We are transforming our minds to the mind of Christ.

In my personal time with God I write down the verses He speaks to me. Some days it may be pages, others may only be one verse. The amount doesn't matter, the immersion matters. Is my mind saturated in God's word? And what did God speak to me today? Sometimes it's an answer to a prayer for direction. Others it may be a conviction of something in your life that's not right. Some days it may be comfort to just know He's with you through whatever you're going through. The Word of God is alive. (Hebrews 4:12) Because He is the Word. If you want to get close to God and don't know how, just get in the Word. If you feel far from God and don't know how to start again and don't have much desire to even begin again, I encourage you to start reading Psalms. There's never been a day when I've read from Psalms and God hasn't spoken to me and helped me with whatever I'm going through. You've heard the quote, "A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't." I believe there's some truth to that. (Yes, I understand not everyone writes in their Bible, so there's exceptions to that quote.) But you get the point. I have been guilty of being one of those Christians that doesn't get in the Word as much when times are good. But then as soon as life takes a turn and things go downhill I immediately regret not having that solid foundation underneath me before my trial came.

If we want to grow deeper roots with God we need to tap into the stream.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Arms Wide Open

You give and take away, Lord blessed be Your name.

Here I stand with arms wide open.

Life is a constant give and take. The heart is pulled, pushed and shoved in all kinds of places you never even knew it could go. I believe the reason there is so much anxiety in Christians is because we can't let go. We have this idea of how things are supposed to go. But they never do. Then when we have disappointment after disappointment we become guarded. Through hurt and feelings of failure we lock up the door of our hearts in fear of inadequacy. We are afraid to give ourselves a chance. Afraid to give others a chance. Afraid to give God a chance. Afraid to let grace in. It's a scary place to stand in front of God with open arms. To let the things and people you love most out of your hands. What we can't seem to grasp is they were never ours in the first place. They are  first and always His. You're dreams, hopes, careers, finances, families, friendships, relationships, you name it - all His.

No matter when you came to Christ, at that moment your life would never be the same. You became His. (Galatians 2:20) He is not a domineering control freak of your life. He's the best thing that could have ever happened to your life. Because when you realize just how much you don't have in this life you realize just how much you have in Christ. We serve an all sufficient God. He needs nothing from us, yet gives us everything we need. It's an unexplainable relationship. It's nothing that makes sense on human terms. When you are at your lowest point, when you have no one to go to or talk to, He's always there. No, it's not tangible. You have to believe that He hears you, you have to believe that He loves you and cares about the details of your daily life. I remember an old acquaintance of mine that used to get in trouble frequently. He had a difficult time with bouts of addiction and really struggled. But he had a grandfather that took him in every time he was in need. That's how we are with God. No matter what junk we are going through, no matter how many stupid things we do, no matter how many times we break His heart, He always takes us in. Now I'm not saying we should abuse God's grace. We shouldn't. Our love should be so strong and so devoted that we never want to be in that place, but it happens. Sometimes we haven't done anything stupid at all and we are just going through a rough time. I say all this to say Jesus is not budging with you. I've been blessed to have a couple friends in my life that I felt like I could say anything to without fear of judgement. They were safe. Jesus is your safe place. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) And there is also no fear in love. (1 John 4:18) So how are we able to just open our arms to Jesus? How can we just say take it all, it's already yours anyways. Is it that easy? No, it's not. It's going to hurt. If it doesn't was there anything to lose in the first place? Letting go is hard. You've got to be fearless. You've got to know who you are in Christ. You have to remind yourself who He is and who you are in Him. You already know He loves you. Trust Him. The question is do you love Him? You've got to love Him more than anything else in this life. It's got to be a wild untamed love. There can be no restrictions. No ifs, buts or maybes. Do you love Him? If so you'll be able to stand with arms wide open.

Long ago the LORD said to Israel: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. (Jeremiah 31:3)

Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed." (Isaiah 49:23 b)

Life Doesn't Get Easier

I took a walk in the woods today up a road I haven't taken in quite a long time. Before I started, I wondered if it would be too overgrown to make it. To my surprise it was clear a long ways ahead. I was excited to get to the top and take in the beautiful lake view. The view was amazing, but I was ready to get on with my walk. As I began to walk down the incline I became aware of the overgrowth I was about to encounter. My first thoughts were, "I'll have to go back the way I came." And then I said to myself, "But I've already come this far."

I believe that's what happens in life. Sometimes we get to these places of doubt. In times of hardship we ask, ourselves "How can I get through this?" or "Is this really what I'm supposed to be doing." When you can't see the road clearly it's frustrating. I learned the board game, Aggravation, for the first time last night. Everyone was having a great time until someone landed on MY spot and sent MY marble all the way back home. How aggravating!(hence the name.) It was always when you were SO close to getting that marble to the finish too. When I was on that road today I was SO close to the end of it. And then there's all this overgrowth in my way. I had to make a choice to keep going in the same direction or to turn back. What kept me from turning back was when I said to myself, "But you've already come this far." So I decided to stay on my path. I looked around for possible clearings. Trying to decide where there were the least amount of briars. While making my way through, my hip broke off part of a tree hanging across the road. I was impressed at my brute of a hip, but then dawned on me these were dead trees in my way. I could just pick it up and move it. Amazingly enough after I moved the dead tree out of my way I realized the rest of the road was pretty clear.


Life doesn't get easier. There's going to be more trees in the road. Some will not be dead. Some will take chainsaws to come and move. Some will have wrecks. Some will be flooded. Some will be paved and some will be dirt. I'm a glass half full kind of person. I typically always try to see the good in any situation. It's just how I'm wired. The first time someone told me life doesn't get better it discouraged me, but then I realized how true it is. Life doesn't get better, Christ gets better. Every road block we come to. Every heartache, every disappointment. Every time you can't see a possible way through the mess in the road. Every time you decide to stick it out and have faith God will get you through (because He will every single time) it doesn't mean your road will get better, it means your faith will grow stronger. Your love for God will grow deeper. Your lungs of praise will sing louder. Don't get me wrong, there are many many great things in life awaiting everyone. Times of relaxation and happiness. It's not all a dark place, and it's not all a valley. But when it is dark, and when it is overgrown and when the road is messed up, you have a choice every time to trust God and let him show himself faithful and strong in your life or to turn back and stay stuck in the same place you've already been.

The joy of the Lord is where you draw your strength to face the adversity in the road. When your heart feels anything but joy, and when you just need enough strength to move dead trees, or chainsaw or crawl through on your hands and knees. In some miraculous way the joy from His presence will overtake you and give you the strength to get through.

You will make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)