Stay in the Word

Christian, stay in the Word!
Leader, stay in the Word!
Missionary, please, STAY IN THE WORD!

There really is no other way. This week I was reminded of this great truth.

Over the years, I have counselled many young women. Today, some of those women are faithfully following God. Some, sadly, are not. What's the difference? The Word.

Take a look at Deuteronomy 17:14-20:
"When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel."
(emphasis mine)

Here is a passage dealing with the law of the Israelite kings. They were given instruction and guidelines for their ruling: basic things, about obtaining horses for personal gain, wives/concubines, riches... all usual issues for kings. These would be "normal" human pitfalls. Eventually, most of these laws were broken by one king or another.

Yet God had given a remedy to keep them from succumbing to these pitfalls... His Word. Each king was to write his own copy of the law and keep it before him constantly. This would help him to fear and obey God, to stay humble, and to prolong his days.

Now, I know we are far removed from being a king of Israel, but perhaps this passage gives us the key to staying faithfully on the path of righteousness. Especially as ladies in positions of leadership, we too need to fear and obey God, stay humble, and prolong our days.

I find great encouragement in writing out verses from the Word of God. It helps with meditation, memorization, and application. However, there are many other ideas for staying in the Word. It matters not how much or little you read, but rather that you are in the Word daily, seeking the face of God. This is how God changes our hearts and lives to be more like Him.

Long day? Stay in the Word.
Family trouble? Stay in the Word.
Financial difficulty? Stay in the Word.
Wrongly treated? Stay in the Word.
Facing pain, illness, and/or death? Stay in the Word.

There are so many stories of Christians who were in leadership falling away into a life of corruption. Ladies, we cannot afford to leave off our Bibles. This is basic, yes, but it is the ONLY prevention from becoming a casualty in the war of the work.

"Sanctify them by thy truth: thy word is truth."
John 17:17

Do You Crunch & Munch?

Devotion:
de-vo-shun
noun
Loyalty, love, and enthusiasm for a person.

I remember when I first started going to a Baptist church when I was in high school It was the first time I remember hearing the term "devotions." The pastor or the Sunday school teacher would say something about doing "personal devotions." I had no idea what they were talking about! Apparently, though, it was important to do this thing called devotions.

At some point I finally figured out that they were speaking about having private time in prayer and in God's Word. Although I finally knew what they were talking about, I still had no idea how to do devotions. No one really ever pulled me aside and discipled me to teach me practical things like that. I just kind of flubbed through it. Consistency was difficult at best. Over the years I kept trying and fine tuning my devotional time. I found things that worked for me and got me in the Word. Consistency came with hunger for God's Word and self-discipline.

Today my quiet time has blossomed into a beautiful quilt of memories and styles. I wish someone had taken the time to teach me about devotions so that this quilt could have been made much sooner and with less struggle. It makes me wonder if there are other women out there looking for that kind of help. Maybe there are women looking to freshen up their devotional time that has become stale. That happens occasionally, too.

I hope I can give some simple insights and ideas so that you can glean the most possible out of this precious time called "devotions."

Here's the key to it all: There is no set-in-stone way to do devotions. It is as individual as we are. There are three things required for devotions: prayer, God's Word, and you.

I have come across or used six different styles of devotions (or some variation of these six) over several years. There are times when I found one to be better than another. I simply change up my style depending on the need, where God leads, the Bible passage, etc.

Through the Bible

I chose the "Through the Bible in Six Months" plan, but many people do the one year plan. I recommend everyone to read through the Bible at some point (if not several times.) There are schedules that go straight through the Bible and others that go chronologically.

One Year Reading Plan
Six Month Reading Plan

Pros: You get a great overview of the Bible as a whole. You will read passages you usually neglect. You will build endurance and discipline.

Cons: It's difficult to call ANY form of Bible reading a "con." Any time we get in the Book it is a good thing! But for practical purposes, reading through the Bible at a specifically scheduled pace can feel overwhelming. If you like to dig into the Word, sometimes it can feel rushed. It is easy to begin treating the Bible more like a textbook, and it is tempting to treat devotion time as something to be marked off the "to-do" list. To overcome these "cons," don't feel bound to the schedule. If something catches your eye, park on it. No one says you must finish in a year or you fail at Devotions 101.

Crunch and Munch

In this method, you pick a book in the Bible, and you read until God points something out to you. You basically read until you get something to meditate on (munch on) all day long.

Pros: This method is great for when your time is limited. As a mother with young children, I thrived with this method. It also helped me with my struggle with consistency. It trained me to think throughout the day on what I read. It was easier to digest smaller portions.

Cons: It is very easy to pull passages out of context with this method. Be sure to read enough to get the context of the passage.

Apple Tree

Imagine walking past an apple tree full of apple. You decide to get some apples. The first time you do it, you grab the apples that are easy to reach from the ground. The second time, you have to stretch and reach a little farther. The third time, you have to grab a ladder and get up in the tree to reach more apples. You get a little deeper in the tree each time. 

Just like that, you pick a book in the Bible. You go through that book at a quick pace the first time, maybe a chapter or two a day. You glean the easy and quick to spot truths. The second time you go through, you slow down and look for new things you didn't see the first time through the book. The third time, you go verse by verse, taking time to look up words, meanings of people's names, cultural references, etc.

Pros: This method easily develops into Bible studies because your curiosity gets you! It gives you a good grasp on the book as a whole. It is easier to maintain context and good interpretation habits.

Cons: It is a little more difficult with larger books.

Devotional Book

This method is self explanatory. You use a scheduled devotional book as a guide.

Pros: This method can be very beneficial for those who struggle with consistency. It is easy to do because everything is laid out for you.

Cons: It is easy to create a dependency on being "spoon fed" instead of listening for God to speak to your heart directly from His Word. It can encourage laziness in building endurance and discipline. Many devotional books are shallow in their content. The reader can be at the mercy of the doctrinal accuracy of the writer if the reader doesn't do the research.

Gleanings from the Fields Devotional Book (PDF written by Baptist Missionary Women from around the world.)
Apples for Teachers by Frank Hamrick (written for Christian school teachers, but I gleaned a ton as a homeschool mom and a Sunday school teacher.)
A Word to the Wise by Paul Chappell (Goes through Proverbs. Has more "meat" to it than most devotional books.)

25 and Zoom

This is my favorite method. You pick a book of the Bible and read through it at a fast pace several times... as many as 25 times. (Obviously not in one sitting! It can take several weeks depending on the book and your reading pace.) Then after that, slow down and "zoom in" verse by verse. 

Pros: This method is amazing at helping you keep passages in context as well as understanding the book as a whole. When you go through the book slowly that last time, you will be shocked at how much "jumps out" at you.

Cons: More difficult to do with larger books.

PPON (Psalm, Proverb, Old Testament, New Testament)

Pick a book in the Old Testament to work through as well as one in the New Testament. Read one chapter in each every day. Also read a Psalm and a chapter in Proverbs every day.

Pros: Gives a well-rounded diet of wisdom, encouragement, and knowledge everyday!

Cons: If time is limited it can be more difficult to do. It can sometimes feel overwhelming if there are too many thoughts to meditate on for the day.


Other tips for devotion time:

1. Journaling your devotion and prayer time is very effective in aiding growth. For some people, journaling can feel distracting or cumbersome and interfere with developing consistency. For others, journaling helps them to focus and helps them to retain truths to meditate on throughout the day.
2. Pray before and after reading the Bible.
3. Have a plan and have your supplies ready.
4. Reevaluate occasionally and don't be afraid to adapt your style to the need.
5. Fast food is better than no food, so if for some reason you are cut short on time, commit to praying and reading something in God's Word everyday even if it is just for a few minutes. Check out this blog post: Yesterday's Lunch by Jamie. It will encourage you!

by Charity, Southern Asia

Author of Heart-at-Home Mom

Fresh Family Devotion Ideas

To be honest, it's our lifeline. We treasure it. The children have fond memories from it.

Family devotion time

Our entire family treasures this special time each evening. We like to keep this time fresh and exciting. Sometimes we change up the routine.

Do you need some ideas of how to keep family devotion time precious, fruitful, and memorable? Check out what we do.

We always start with prayer. We take prayer requests and then we also pray for one of our supporting churches. We have a container with index cards that have the name of supporting churches on them. We draw one card each devotion night.

Then we do one of the following devotion styles:

1. Regular Devotion Time
   Most devotion times, Dad leads. He often picks a book of the Bible and we work our way through it.
2. English Singing Night
   Sometimes we really miss singing in our native tongue! There is nothing like singing the songs and understanding every word. There are five members in our family. Each person gets to choose a song on this night.
3. Q & A Night
   Daddy introduced this night a couple of months ago. He told the children and me that if we had any questions, to write them down and be ready to ask them on this night. I didn't realize how much the children would love this! They have asked questions about verses they came across during private devotions. They have asked questions about standards and convictions. The topics are wide ranging and great! Daddy is up front with them about topics that will take a little study before answering. He makes sure he gets back to them as soon as he can.
4. Prayer and Share Night
   On this night, everyone takes turns sharing things God has been teaching them. It can be something that they learned during personal devotions or something that impacted them at church or through an online sermon. It's like a personal testimony time.
5. Online Sermon Night
   Sometimes we miss listening to preaching in English. We miss listening to different preachers during revivals, camp meetings, and missions conferences. We also miss the depth of preaching that can be done in the States. Most preaching here has to be kept very basic (milk) for the sake of the people. These concepts are all new to them. Sometimes it is great to get strong meat!
6. Child-Led Devotion Night
   Sometimes we encourage the children to be ready to lead a devotion. This will help them in the future when they teach their own family and when they teach others. They have to study and prepare.
7. Check-Up Night
   Occasionally we do a spiritual check-up. Daddy and I ask the children how they are doing in their spiritual lives, if they are having struggles, how faithful they are being in private devotions, and if there are areas in which we can help counsel them or pray for them.

Resources Our Family Has Enjoyed for Devotions

Most of the time in our devotions we only used the Bible, but when our children were younger we occasionally used the Miller Family books. The devotions were simple stories centered around a practical Bible verse or passage. My youngest child has used these for his personal devotions on occasion as well. The Scriptures are KJV. The Miller family in the stories are Amish Mennonite, but the devotions through the following three books did not present any doctrinal conflict.

Prudence and the Millers

Wisdom and the Millers

Story Time with the Millers

    

We use Sermon Audio frequently for our online sermon resource. Some of our family's favorites?

Pastor Kenny Baldwin
Pastor Lou Baldwin
Pastor Todd Abbey

We have a couple of hymnals at our home for singing nights.

Majesty Hymns
Bible Truth Hymns

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by Charity, Southern Asia

Author of Heart-At-Home Mom

Yesterday's Lunch

Last week was MK Spirit Week. For me, it was BUSY BUSY BUSY! So I asked a friend, and fellow BMW, if she would help out with the blog post for this week. I had no idea what she would turn in to me. After reading what she submitted, I am sure glad I asked! I am sure there are many who struggle with the same thing, and could use the wisdom.

I hope you enjoy!

(Thanks, Jamie, for being REAL!)

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Yesterday's Lunch

I have a confession that I am not so proud of. Of course, which “confessions” are you ever proud of, truthfully? Well this one goes against the “perfect missionary” persona that is out there. I sometimes have a hard time being consistent in my devotion or quiet time with the Lord. There I said it. No, I’m not proud of it, nor condone it—but I am working at it.

There are days when it is easy. I wake up refreshed, the kids sleep in, I leave my phone in the other room, and I get a lot of study time in. I am able to study, pray and have a nice time, and leave with something I want to share with others.

Then there are days where I wake up late, tired, or kids wake up early and whiney, or I grab my phone and get distracted with social media or email or chatting with my mom halfway across the world. I run out of time and the day, children, my husband, life calls me to my duty.

I have found that if I leave my room before I sit with the Lord I will not make time to do it later. I have tried, “Oh, I’ll do it at school time, or nap time, or before bed, but once I leave my bedroom in the morning there is a good chance it won’t happen at all. Please tell me I’m not the only one like this. I know others struggle with a daily consistent quiet time.

I do think back on it during the day. It’s like the Lord is calling me to spend time with him. Then I start thinking of the nice time, the nice “lunch” I had with him the day before. I think, “I don’t have time now, but at least I can think about what I learned yesterday.”

This isn’t bad. God wants us to remember what He taught us and not to forget. He even wants us to share it with others, but he also wants us to get it fresh from him. This lesson is for me—I can’t live on yesterday’s lunch. I need a fresh serving every day.

Lamentations 3:23-23

“It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

So we have all been there. You missed your first three alarms for the morning, the kids are screaming, you didn’t spend time with the Lord in the morning, you ran all day and are about to drop at night….Now what?

I have found a new way of study that I love. It causes me to dwell on God’s Word more, to be still and listen more, but it also takes more time and “equipment”—Bible, notebook, colored pencils, dictionary, drawing pad…etc. And there are days, I just don’t have that time—whether it’s an excuse or legitimate. For a while, I would just do nothing when I didn’t have my “equipment” at hand or the time to delve in. I didn’t want to just read ahead, because I didn’t want my journal to be missing info, and God forbid I actually read it twice. Those days I would skip a “meal” altogether.

But I’ve come up with a remedy. It’s like on days you have time you make a good meal. On other days you grab fast food! Well I’ve decided to have a separate spot in my Bible designated for Fast Food—the book of Joshua, and one place for a home-cooked meal—Ephesians.

Last night was a “no time” day. But before bed, I stood at the light switch with my Bible in hand--too tired to  sit down and then get up again afterwards to turn the light off--and read a chapter and prayed. It wasn’t grand. It wasn’t glorious. But it was something.

No one is ever proud of a fast food meal. There is tons of research on why it is unhealthy, but it will keep you from starving! My encouragement to you today is to get IN God’s Word, whether it is a long, beautiful, peaceful, kid-free hour, or 5 minutes before you drop in bed dead tired. God doesn’t want us to live on yesterday’s lunch, he wants us to get a fresh meal each day—even if it is just fast food. The point is to get in God’s Word and make it a daily habit—just like eating lunch every day.

Jamie Knickerbocker

Southern Asia

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