Access to the Bible is so prevalent in America, why should anyone memorize verses? The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. We can find it in any local book store, hotel, or hospital room. One can even read the Bible online and cross-reference against at least a dozen versions to understand the Scripture better. Our Constitution upholds a freedom of religion so believers can go to church and hear the truth.
 
Not all countries have ready access to the Word of God. In his book “The Heavenly Man,” Brother Yun describes how when he read the book of Matthew, he memorized the whole thing and later shared it with his family and neighbors. In China, they didn’t have Bibles lying around to read at one’s leisure.
 
During the Soviet Union, a group of young adults met in secret in Moscow to see how much of the Bible they could reconstruct from what they had memorized. In the course of the week, they wrote down the four gospels, much of the Psalms, and many hymns.
 
How could these young people memorize whole books of the Bible? One verse at a time.
 
The key to learning anything is starting small. I love God’s Word, but am nowhere near able to recite an entire gospel like these people in closed countries. I spent one year memorizing the book of Philippians, but it took the entire year. Learning God’s Word takes effort, but the time invested will yield eternal rewards. Here are a few reasons we should learn Scriptures:
 
Love for God
 
If someone you loved wrote you a letter, wouldn’t you read it? And if it included encouraging words, maybe you would even repeat those words to yourself. When I love God, I will not only want to read His Word, but commit it to memory.
 
Desire for Obedience
 
Since God’s love language is obedience (John 14:15), if I want to obey God, I need to know the Word. Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” The Holy Spirit uses each verse I treasure to help me not to succumb to temptation.
 
Memorized verses are strong weapons in my spiritual arsenal to undermine the attacks of the enemy. First Corinthians 10:13 that says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” God won’t tempt me, instead He will create a way for me to escape if I look for the exit ramp.
 
An example would be when I want to snap at someone irritating. The Holy Spirit reminds me of Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (NKJV). I have a choice in how I respond. I can answer with soft words or makes things worse by countering with frustration. Thinking about the verse slows my reaction time and helps me respond with kindness that dissipates tense moments. All because I knew the verse. 
 
Importance of Learning the Whole Verse
 
One problem I face is memorizing Scripture references. In writing this blog, I forgot that the verse I just used was found in Proverbs 15:1. Fortunately, I used a concordance, but that is not always an option. Once while doing missions overseas, I tried to find a Bible verse for someone in a foreign language. I couldn’t whip out my Russian concordance because I didn’t have one. I missed the chance to share the gospel to an interested soul because I focused on memorizing just the words in the verse. Knowing where the passage is from is just as important.
 
Now that we’ve discussed some of the benefits of committing God’s Word to heart, will you join me in memorizing Scripture? On my social media, I used to post a verse of the day. The Lord placed on my heart a desire to share a memory verse of the week. I write the same verse every day for a week so that repeated exposure helps the truth stick in people’s minds. Here’s this week’s memory verse:

Proverbs 3:3, “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.”
 
Proverbs 3:3 admonishes us to tie mercy and truth around our necks and write them on my hearts, wearing them wherever we go. When we keep God’s truth nearby, we won’t rush into sin from deceit because truth outshines the lies. Mercy will catch us if we fall and usher us back into the light of the Lord.
 
Each post includes short notes of commentary or memorization tips. If you are like me, especially since the invention of smart phones, I find it tough to remember anything. Here are a few ways I memorize Bible verses that may help you.   
 
Scripture Memory Tips:

• Find a buddy and learn the verse together. Text the verse or call to read the verse to each other.
• Get a Scripture journal. Write your verse or passage for the week five times every day. The repetition helps Scripture sink deep in your heart.
• Read the verse aloud five times every day. Look at the verse the first two times if you need to, and work up to not looking at all by the fifth time.
• Write the verse on index cards and put them on your mirror to read while you brush your teeth and on your steering wheel to see at red lights (not while driving).
• Sing the words of the verse to a tune you like. I still remember Revelation 22:12 from a song I learned as a child. Songs stick with our brains.
• Record yourself reading the verse on your phone and play it on repeat while you drive.   
  

Even if you don’t want to learn the same verse that God leads me to share on a given week, you can find another one that closer matches your needs. May we exercise our rights to learn as many verses as possible. Knowing God’s Word will never hurt and will only bless your heart as it fills with rich truth.

• What are some of your memorization tips?
  
• Which verses do you want to remember?
  
• Which verses that you’ve memorized have blessed you the most?
  

Today I welcome guest blogger Stephanie Pavlantos to share with us about her Bible study “Jewels of Hebrews.” I met Stephanie through my Blue Ridge Bible Study Facebook group. Though we’ve not met in person, I’ve always enjoyed her blogs and been blessed by her as a friend on the writing journey. May you be dazzled by the riches of God’s Word in the book of Hebrews as Stephanie examines not only the verses, but the Jewish culture and Hebrew language to illuminate truths.
 
                                                                         Jewels of Hebrews
                                                                       Stephanie Pavlantos
 
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44, ESV
 
I’m a scientist and a researcher. I worked in cancer and AIDS research, and later I worked as a histotechnologist in a hospital pathology lab. Researching comes naturally to me, as does teaching.

Teaching is my first love. I taught biology, chemistry, and anatomy in homeschool co-ops, and the Lord called me to teach Bible studies over twenty years ago. Researching the biblical languages, culture, and history excite me.

So, when the Lord put a man who spoke and taught Hebrew in my life, I had to know more. The little he shared with my husband and me intrigued me. I began researching everything I could find about Messianic beliefs, the Hebrew alphabet, the culture, and the Feasts.

I saw things I had never seen in Scripture through reading rabbis and rabbinical/ Messianic books.

When the Lord led me to write a Bible study on the book of Hebrews, I loved the Hebrew-ness of it. I appreciated the first four verses of chapter one and how the author described Jesus, or Yeshua. I knew I would have to use the name Yeshua because I saw His Jewishness in this book, and I was eager to show others.

After writing the first six chapters, the Lord gave me a theme: Jewels.

I found a website on the biblical meaning of the different colors of gemstones. Amazingly, of course, there was a color that fit each of the chapters already written. It came together like Someone had already planned it.

One thing that floored me about the Hebrew letters is how different they are from our alphabet. We have the letter “b,” but Hebrew has the letter bet. Their letters are words, and those words have meaning. Bet means house or tent.

We write the word manna with the letters mem and nun or מך (reading right to left). Mem can mean water or something that comes down from heaven, and nun means life (and can mean fish).

John 6:32-33 says, “Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’” (ESV)

In this verse, Jesus gives the meaning of the true bread, which is the one who comes down from Heaven to give life. That is the definition of manna.

The Gospels are full of Hebrew idioms and proverbs that Jesus referenced when he spoke.
In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (ESV)

A Hebrew saying is, “Give with a good eye” or give generously. A bad eye is a selfish person.
That’s why Matthew 6:24 says,

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
You will find these and other gems like them in Jewels of Hebrews.

To introduce each chapter, I tell a story of a famous gem or piece of jewelry. I base each chapter on a specific stone like the amethyst, ruby, emerald, topaz, pink diamond, or other colored precious gem. Each color stands for a characteristic of Jesus, i.e. ruby stands for blood, salvation, redemption, or sacrifice.

Your job as you read and work through that chapter of Hebrews is to find the verses which deal with the characteristics that match the gems. All the while you are learning about the Old and New Testament, Hebrew language, culture, and the Jewishness of Jesus.

In this study, you will see Jesus as the High Priest, Savior, and Jewish rabbi He was and still is.
Jewels of Hebrews is an expositional thirteen-week study for individual or group study. Within the study there is teaching, fill-in-the-blank, and reflection.

Back cover copy:  You are a treasure hunter on a mission to find hidden jewels. Your guide Stephanie Pavlantos has gone before you and now joins you on an expedition to unearth a hidden gem from each chapter of Hebrews. When you open your beloved Bible and dive deep into the book, you will find a rare diamond, ruby, sapphire, and other gems. You will explore the rich history of the early church and the connections the book of Hebrews has to the Old Testament. The supremacy of Yeshua and his royalty will be revealed as the Jewels of Hebrews are discovered one chapter at a time. Learn about these jewels and the meaning of their color as you find relatable and practical applications for modern times. Get ready for a life-changing journey! Yeshua is eager to reveal the Jewels of Hebrews to you and crown you his prince or princess.
 
Author Bio:
Stephanie Pavlantos is passionate about getting people into God’s Word. She has taught Bible studies for fifteen years and has spoken at ladies’ retreats.

She is ordained with Messenger Fellowship in Nashville, TN. Stephanie works for Besorah Institute for Judeo-Christian Studies in the Student Services department as well as teaching online classes.

She is published in Refresh Bible study magazine, Charisma magazine, and CBN.com. She is also a contributor to www.VineWords.net, Feed Your Soul with the Word of God compilation by Lighthousebiblestudies.com, and Love Knots compilation by VineWords Publishing.
You can visit her blog at www.stephaniepavlantos.com  and other social media sites at twitter @DPavlantos and www.facebook.com/stephaniepavlantos.

Her Bible study, Jewels of Hebrews, won a third place at Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference (2018), an Honorable Mention at the Florida Christian Writers Conference (2019) and is a finalist in the Selah Awards at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference (2021).
Married for twenty-nine years, she and Mike have three children, Matthew, Alexandria, and Michael. Stephanie loves animals and has dogs, ducks, sheep, and chickens.

My pastor’s wife sent the song “The Blessing” by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes as part of a set of worship songs on YouTube when my church started meeting online on March 22, 2020. Even though we couldn’t be together, we could still praise God from our couches. Click here for the link.
 
The song lyrics comes from one of the most famous Biblical blessings where the Lord gives instructions on how to bless the children of Israel in Numbers 6:22-26 (NIV):

“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”

Blessings infuse life from our Heavenly Father into people. We pour God’s blessings, protection, and grace on their comings and goings. When Moses spoke to God, he hid his face under a bag because it shone from reflecting God’s glory. When we bless someone, we radiate God’s glory to brighten their day and surround them with peace.
 
The song “The Blessing” came at a crucial time in world history as the pandemic progressed and people around the globe stayed inside to quarantine. People all over spliced together versions of the song on YouTube to bless whole countries, including the UK, South Africa, Australia, etc. At a time when the world was sick, singing the blessings over countries pushed healing and life into the heavens. Our world needed all the hope it could get to combat the curse of COVID.
 
Blessings are the opposite of curses. In Deuteronomy chapters 27-28, a series of blessings and curses are laid out before the Israelites. God explains that if the people obeyed God’s laws, they would be blessed in their houses, in their fields, in their families, and with their friends. On the other hand, if the people turned from God, curses would cover every area of their lives. All they sought to accomplish would fail. The section culminates with Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (NKJV).
 
When we bless people, we choose life over death. We bring God’s goodness down from heaven into earth. I’ve started to speak different blessings from the Bible and claim them for my friends and family. Instead of fighting my spiritual battles from a defensive position, when I bless, I go on the offense. Sending God’s grace and truth into the atmosphere changes the heavens around us and creates a place where Satan cannot operate. The impact on those we love is tremendous.
 
Not only are we to bless our friends and families, we are also to bless those who curse us. Luke 6:27-28 says, “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (NKJV). Loving our enemies is hard. Who wants to bless when they’ve been cursed? Only God can enable His people to love that way. We can bless others because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us when we were His enemies (Romans 5:8).

My friend’s colleague made her life difficult. He either refused to work, or created chaos when he contributed. She wanted to pull her hair out. The Holy Spirit convicted her after she noticed her snippy retorts. She confessed her sin and started to bless the man. The Lord heard those prayers. Her colleague was promoted and moved off the project. That left his spot open for her to recommend a friend for the position. Blessing her enemy paved the way to peace in her workplace.

Blessings are not a name it and claim it theology. You don’t say “I bless you with new shoes,” and they fall out of the sky. Blessing people speaks the good for them that God has already promised in His Word. They create space in the atmosphere for showers of blessings to fall on us as we walk in obedience to God. Sometimes our blessings may seem disguised if they don’t come packaged as we expected. Knowing God sees the end game prepares our hearts to receive blessings in any form.  

I want to bless you as the readers of this blog. May the Lord’s favor be upon you, your friends, your families, your enemies, and your generations to come. May the light of God’s countenance shine upon you and fill your heart. May your sitting up and lying down be sheltered under the shadow of God’s wings. May you harness the power of blessings to speak truth to bring life to the world around you. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

• Have you ever spoken Biblical blessings over yourself and your family? If so, which ones? If not, why not? Find some of the blessings in the Bible and speak the Lord’s favor over those around you. Here are a few as a starting point: Genesis 1:28, Genesis 49:25, Number 6:22-26, Psalm 1:1, Matthew 5, and Luke 6:28

This week's blog is by my good friend Ed Windhausen from my Word Weaver's group. I am thankful to walk alongside him in his writing journey and share this story from his mission trip to Zambia. His words are so vivid and compelling that I experience his emotions as I read. May his story bless you too!
                                                                   A Heart of Flesh
                                                                    Ed Windhausen

Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”    
 
            I thought you couldn’t die in your dreams. I had heard it said that if you did, you would die in real life. I am grateful that turned out to be false. It was the summer of 2008, and I found myself in a most unlikely place. I was on a mission trip in the bush of Zambia, Africa. That’s actually not that surprising, since I had taken the same trip the previous year. What was different this year was the work I was doing.

            I had never really contemplated what it might be like to be on a chain gang in the 1920’s, but that year in Africa I found out. We were tasked with digging something called barache (bah-rah-sh). Imagine an iron rich soil that has fossilized and turned into a large vein of super hard concrete like stone. That’s barache. It’s hard and unforgiving, and our host missionaries needed us to dig up this stone and crush it into smaller pieces to create a gravel-like packable substrate for the floor of the orphanage we were helping to build. The problem was that this barache was very comfortable where it was and did not want to be disturbed. We used picks, shovels, and six-foot steel pry bars to try and coax it loose. The work was so tough that I actually wore down about two inches of the pick I was using that week. I burned myself on its tip once from the heat that had built up from the repetitive friction producing contact with the barache. It was hard work.

            There were times when we would fall into this almost sleepy rhythm of lift-swing-bang, lift-swing-bang, lift-swing-bang. For a guy like me who wasn’t used to manual labor, I had to dig deep into myself to find the will to continue each hour. I had to ignore the blisters that formed, popped, and bled each day. I had to set aside my own comfort for the greater cause of the work that was being accomplished. That work was for God and His children. Wasn’t that the reason we had come to this place, to serve the Lord?

            Maybe it was because I was so tired. Maybe it was because I was raw from sleeping in a tent in the bush of Africa. Likely, it was because I was focusing on Him in the midst of my suffering. Whatever the reason, the Lord chose this moment to remind of a gift He had given me four years earlier. A gift I had never acknowledged, or had chosen to push back into the recesses of my memory for some purpose not known to me on a conscious level.

            My work partner Tom and I had been at it all morning, lift-swing-bang, lift-swing-bang, lift-swing-bang. It was close to lunchtime, and we had been having a conversation about our testimonies. I was sharing with him my agnostic struggles prior to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior, relaying to him I could now see how God had been at work in many of the circumstances of that journey. He had placed people in my path that had been essential in my slow, methodical approach to faith. Over and over again He had given me the opportunities to see Him for who He truly was, love.

            I will admit to being tired, we all were. But, it was more than a physical release that was about to occur.  It was the realization that something pivotal had happened in my life, and I had ignored it. It was like someone pulling you to safety after a bad motor vehicle accident. Watching as the car explodes, feeling the heat, and then turning around and discovering that the person has disappeared into the crowd before you could thank them for saving your life. It was a feeling of unresolved gratitude that constantly nags at you, never letting you fully relax.

            I don’t recall what triggered the memory, but I do remember that Tom was expressing how grateful he felt to have eternal salvation. I could feel the authenticity of his words, like a mist settling on my warm skin, soothing and cooling in the hot African sun. It was then that I shared with him this vision or dream I had four years prior. It was unlike any dream I had ever had. It was more thought than visual or auditory. There was no recognition of images, or discernment of sound, but there was awareness unlike anything I had ever experienced. I could feel what was happening. But, it was actually more than a feeling; it was a confident recognition of truth.

            I was dead. There was no tunnel of light, no swirling colors, nothing from my memory of how death has been described by those who have claimed to return from that experience. I was just dead. I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t even confused. While I had no explanation for my demise, I was at peace. It was as if I had been holding my breath forever and was finally able to exhale, but then take in a deep breath of air so sweet, so fragrant and warm, it pulled me close and soothed me from within. There was recognition in that breath that I never had to worry again, and all the anxieties I’d had in my life had been pointless. This was how it was supposed to be. This was the real life.

            Tom was intrigued. He asked me what might have been going on in my life at that time. At that moment, I made the connection. I shared that the dream had come when I had finally surrendered to God and let Him into my heart. I had decided to stop fighting, stop looking for proof, stop feeling like I had to explain everything before I could be a true believer. I was tired. I didn’t want to fight it anymore. I submitted myself to His will. I stopped being hard like stone, and I softened.

            This may sound theatrical, but I fell to my knees right there at the edge of that small barache pit under a grove of mwaponi trees in the Mukamba region of Zambia, and I cried. Tom became a blur through my tear soaked eyes, but I could see him smiling. He knew something powerful had just happened. It was the recognition that my heart had been transformed from something as hard as the barache we were digging, into a heart of flesh, a heart that was softened for the purposes of the Lord. I felt Tom’s hand on my shoulder, but he said nothing. There was nothing to say. I stood up, wiped my eyes, and grabbed my pick, lift-swing-bang, lift-swing-bang, lift-swing-bang.

• Is there something in your life that hardens your heart?
  
• What changes might need to occur for your heart to be softened?
  
• Does the work you do honor God and yourself?
  

Life in Latvia was dark. Very dark. They count hours of sunlight per year. Yes, hours, not days of sunlight. It averaged to about 30 sunny days each year. While I lived there teaching seventh and eighth grade third-culture kids, we managed not to have sunshine for five months straight over the winter. Being from Florida, the sunshine state, I got really depressed. SAD—Seasonal Affective Disorder—is real.

I sought ways to brighten the dark days. People had told me about buying a “happy lamp” that emits the same rays as natural sunlight. I wish I had taken their advice. One thing that did help was dying my hair bright red. The color added pep to my locks as it matched my coat and hat.

In late February, we finally saw the sun again. The temperature was -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) so I wore four layers of clothes. I waddled around like the stay-puff marsh mellow woman. I'm glad I braved the cold. My face lit with joy while playing in the sunshine and soaking in vitamin D. Still, I wondered if my work was worth all the struggle.

One day when I’d hit a real low, a lady from my church back home sent me an email. She started the note with Philippians 1:3-6, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

She explained how God had prompted her to write me to encourage me that He would finish what He’d started. The Lord hadn’t sent me to Latvia to freeze to death and languish in depression, but to use me for His kingdom purposes and glory. My main interactions were teaching American children, not the locals. Yet, my work with those kids enabled their parents to build language skills and a ministry. Also, third-culture kids have a unique problem set to straddle two countries and function as a subset of both. Their education was important for the people they would become.

Satan tries to make us doubt our calling or diminish its importance. Every role God calls us to is significant for building His kingdom. When we surrender our works to the Lord, He creates amazing results that far exceed what we can imagine. Often, I don’t see the fruit of my labor, which I think is to prevent me from swelling with pride. God deserves the glory, not my ego. Life eventually did get brighter, and the Lord brought me through to the spring. Hope and happiness sprouted in my heart and mind once more.

I let the lady from my church know how much her email encouraged me. To her, it was something little, but to me it was monumental. Her note reminded me that as long as I obeyed God, my work, no matter how menial, brought God glory. I needed that light to keep walking through the dark until the dawn appeared. The Lord's work is always worth whatever night we face because His joy comes in the morning.

• Have you ever wondered if your work matters? Know that God has a purpose for all of our lives.
• Whose day can you brighten to remind them of their value to God?

My big plans to drive to a museum were crushed because of snow and ice on the road. I wasn’t going anywhere. Instead, I stayed on the couch at home on Valentine’s Day. I tried to make the best of it by watching several sermons online. If I couldn’t get away, at least I could fill my heart with truth from God’s Word.

It was a quiet day. After the sermons, I sat reading my Kindle. The snow had stopped, but it was still too cold to venture outdoors. Then I heard a knock on my door. I was startled and slightly suspicious. The Amazon guys usually don’t wait for me to get my package.

I peered out my peephole and saw my pastor and his wife holding flowers. Surprise! I opened the door and received a beautiful bouquet of daisies and pink roses. There are a number of single women in my church. My church leaders had braved the ice to ensure that we felt loved and appreciated. Their act of generosity turned a day that usually depresses me into one of joy and loveliness.

My pastor and his wife didn’t have to play flower delivery people. They could have stayed warm in their own house. Instead, they sought to care for others more than their own convenience. Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” My focus that day had been on what I wanted to feel good. Not on how I could love others well.

After they left, I sent “Happy Galentine’s Day” texts to several friends. While this effort was small compared to what my pastor and his wife had done, it could still bring a smile to someone’s face. It always feels good to be seen and known. And you know what? I also felt really good to do something nice for someone. Kindness blesses both the giver and the recipient.

Indeed, Acts 20:35b reminds us that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Sharing God’s love with others delights our hearts. God gave the ultimate gift in sending His Son Jesus to take the penalty our sins deserved. Because it stirs the Father’s heart to give to us, we who are made in the image of God are likewise awakened to joy when we give.

May we seek to see those who may be overlooked. May we shed the Father’s lavish love on them as we would want to be loved ourselves. I pray we spread seeds of joy that grow into surprise flowers for those near and far.

• Who is God calling you to serve?
• Is there anyone you realize may have gone unnoticed that you could recognize? How can you bless them?
  

Our world is starving for love. People feel empty inside and search for someone to complete them. Online dating and apps provide modern options to hanging around bars to meet someone, but they can also lead to frustration. People want lasting relationships, but many are willing to settle for one-night stands. 

Valentine’s Day can hold a strong sting for singles because society pushes relationships as the norm. Yet some people in relationships aren’t feeling fulfilled. They put all their expectations for love, joy, and happiness in one person, which winds up in disaster.

What happens when he doesn’t bring flowers anymore? What about when she quits fussing with her hair and makeup to look her best? The infatuation stage only lasts so long before people take off their masks.

Even in committed relationships, no one can ever fulfill all the other person’s expectations. What if he misses his daughter’s piano recital because he is late at work—again? What if she refuses to cook dinner because she has other competing priorities? People are fallible and will let us down at some point, whether they want to or not. They can’t help it. They are human.

The only One who can truly fill all our hopes and dreams is God. First John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (NKJV). We have the capacity to love God and others only because our Creator us loved us first. He intimately knit us in our mother’s wombs so that we could grow to worship Him. We were made with God sized holes in our heart that only He can fill. When we try to fill our hearts with anything but God, it is like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. It won’t fit.

God has a bigger heart for us than we could ever deserve. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NKJV). He knows the depths of our hearts and loves us the same.

When we realize how much God loves us despite all our sins, we can’t help but love Him back. We can never earn God’s love. All our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Even if we tried our best every day to be perfect, we’d fail. Reality shows that we are fallen beings, under the curse of sin and death. So, we confess our need for a Savior and experience a love like no other.

God’s love floods our every fiber when we surrender our hearts to Jesus. Then, we discover the love we have fruitlessly sought for elsewhere. Even though life won’t always be easy after receiving Christ’s forgiveness, He will never drop us on our heads. If we want true love, we need to put all our hopes and expectations in Christ. Only God can complete us.  

May we grow in love for God and others. Let’s make Him our first love because He first loved us.

• Have you ever put unrealistic expectations on another person? What happened?
• How does knowing God loves you change the way you relate to others?

Our world experienced a lot of upheaval over the last year. A global pandemic followed by race riots followed by a contested election did not leave much space for peace. Some of my friends are speculating that the end times have come and Jesus is coming back soon. I honestly have no idea when He is returning. Matthew 25:13 says, ““Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (NKJV). However, I do know is that Jesus is coming one day sooner today than He was yesterday. And I need to be ready.

Sharing Christ is one way I can prepare for the Lord’s return. With the new year, I realize the urgency in sharing the good news of Jesus with my family, friends, and everyone I meet. My life is to serve as an arrow to point people to Christ. Without Him there’s no purpose and no hope. I pray for the spread the gospel, not COVID.

Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NKJV). Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations. This goes beyond trying to save souls from hell to ensuring that they know what they believe and why. Discipleship teaches people how to study the God’s Word and apply it so they can know and grow in Christ.

Personally, I started to study the Bible with a few friends last year who were interested in knowing more about Jesus. I pray I remain open to whoever God puts in my path to share the gospel with this year, because we can’t share enough. We must always be “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) since the world will know we are Christians by our love.

Unfortunately, some Christians can come across as overzealous, and have tried to beat the truth into people’s heads by banging their Bibles. I've been guilty of this myself, but realize I can’t argue someone into salvation. Instead, Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (NKJV).  I like the idea of combining grace with salt. It’s the sweet and salty combo of a salted caramel hot chocolate. We need the love from grace, but the salt adds truth to enhance the flavor.

Where will you begin? Who has God put on your heart to share the gospel with in 2021? May the Lord make us ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us and share the best news ever with those around us. May His Spirit guide us each day so that as many people as possible can enter God’s kingdom when the Lord returns.

The year 2020 will never be forgotten. From COVID-19 to race riots to the election, 2020 held many painful and unexpected moments. Personally, I had a pretty tough 2019 and had asked God for a break in 2020. That didn’t happen. Instead, I had a breakup of my relationship and a near breakdown from stress at work.

Thankfully, God is bigger than all of my struggles. 1 John 4:4 says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Nothing this world can throw at me can stand up to the greatness of God. Nothing. God has shown Himself faithful despite all my difficulties. He gave me peace about the breakup and a fantastic new job.  

I’m sure that many of you had your own hardships last year. They certainly weren’t easy to miss. Yet, God has seen us all through to 2021. I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t predict all that this year will hold. Fortunately, I know who holds my future. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The good things God started in my life long before 2020, He will see through until He calls me home to heaven. He will do the same for you.

Instead of focusing on the bad from last year, I wanted to list some good things that happened despite the storms. My church family encouraged my heart when I was depressed about work. I joined three separate prayer groups, thereby working my faith muscles as we watched God move through corporate prayer. I was lonely during the quarantine, and the Lord sent my sister to live with me and provided her with a great job. I also have many solid evangelism opportunities I wouldn’t have had without COVID-19. God is always working in our lives. It is just His timing and ways that befuddle us sometimes (Isaiah 55:8-9).

My challenge to us as we reflect on 2020, instead of listing what went wrong, let’s find the blessings in disguise. Find ways to see how God has used your brokenness to build your trust in His provision. If you can’t see any immediate blessings, ask God to show you what they are. You probably have more than you know. May the Lord’s graciousness continue to flow on the days before us as 2021 unfolds.

• What blessings did the Lord bestow on you in 2020? Please share the so we can rejoice with you.

 

This year has surfaced a problem that many struggle with but few wish to admit – loneliness. In a world of social media, we should feel more connected than ever. Yet, people put their best face forward online, hiding the bruises behind lighting filters on their cameras. Also, with COVID banishing the ability to meet in person for long stretches and only small gatherings remaining even now, it has been hard to not be lonely.

Sometimes, the enemy of our souls tries to whisper that God has abandoned us. Fortunately, that is a lie. I am never alone. God promised in Hebrews 13:5b “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (NKJV). Even when I can’t be with family and friends, the Lord is always with me. Especially during the earlier months of the year when I was stuck inside, I often felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. As I read the Bible, truth took on a nearly tangible form and comforted me.

I am so thankful that Jesus chose to come down to live among us here on dirty earth. The mediator that Job had begged God for (Job 9:33) was born in a humble stable some 2000 years ago. Mathew 1:23 says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us’” (NKJV).

Jesus emptied Himself of the glories of heaven and took on human form so He could be God with us. He ate, drank, got tired, faced opposition, and even wept when His friend died. Jesus experienced all the ups and downs of human life and can sympathize with our weaknesses; now we can approach the throne of grace with confidence to find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16). That was the beauty of Jesus living on earth. His death and resurrection bridged the gap from the Father’s heart to humankind forever, paving the way for reconciliation.  
When Christ returned to heaven, He told us “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:30 NKJV). Jesus didn’t leave us orphans, but sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us (John 14:16-18). We as Christians now become the temple of God. While Jesus may have never faced the current ills of society with social media and a pandemic, He still knows what we are experiencing. When we call out to Him, the same one whose cry pierced the night in a manger long ago, will hold the cries of our hearts. This Christmas season and throughout the year, I pray we will feel the presence of our Immanuel, God with us and know that He is near.  

• When was a time you felt God’s presence in your life?
  
• How do you hold onto the truth that God is with you when you feel lonely?