Tag: Bible study

Time with God

There have been seasons in my life when I found it difficult to sit down, undistracted for any amount of time and study God’s word. At times it was because we had small children at home, other times it was due to the very long to-do list, or stress at work, or a brain that would just not be quiet, or a heart that was so incredibly heavy with grief. It was frustrating because at the time, I thought that was the only way to spend time with God. 

I wish that I could go back and tell my younger self that spending time with God doesn’t always have to be sitting with a Bible in hand in a quiet room. It can be so many other things.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

If I am truly living out this scripture, my entire life should be given over to God. Not just Sunday mornings in worship, not just the times that I can sit and study scripture. But also the times that I am driving in the car, making dinner, washing dishes, mowing the yard, or weeding the flower beds. Every single thing that I do every single day is to be done in service to God. This is how I worship Him.

Now, some of my favorite times with God are when I am running. Want to know why? It’s the easiest time for me to be quiet and just listen. My mom always said that I have the gift of gab. I can sit and talk to people for hours. I talk too much. It’s a struggle. When I am running, I have to choose between talking and being able to breathe. I choose breathing, so God gets to do all of the talking, and I do all the listening. 

It’s not that hard. I just start with, “God, this is what is on my heart, this is what I am struggling with today.” And then I listen. I can’t tell you how many times I have hit the pavement with a problem, and by the time I finished running, I had a solution. In fact, I was out for a run when the idea hit me to write this blog post. 

I even wrote this post, and then just let it sit on my computer for nearly a week because I wasn’t sure how it would be received. I don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea. I think it is incredibly important that we read scripture and study it in depth. I believe there is a reason that we are told to “Be still” in Psalm 46:10. I also think it isn’t the only way to spend time with God. Even as I was trying to decide whether or not to share these thoughts, a teacher at school asked me if I believed that sitting down in a quiet room was the only way to study and spend time with God. Okay, God, I see what you did there.  

I can spend time with my Father in every aspect of my life. Everything that I do, I do for Him. In fact, any daily task is a great time to reach out to God. He is there. Just like He has run every step with me, He also rides in the car with me, and is listening if I want to talk to Him while I am washing dishes. Do you love hanging out with your kiddos in the kitchen or on the ride to school? That’s exactly how God feels about you! He loves spending time with His children regardless of what we are doing. 

Try it out! Invite God to hang out with you today while you go about whatever task is on your to do list. Share with Him what is on your heart! He will be delighted and you just might be surprised at how your heart finds peace and comfort during that time with Him.

Do Not Be Deceived

I was recently reading Matthew 7, when verse 15 popped out at me. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” 

You know what hit me? If I don’t know God for myself, it will be so easy to be deceived by the false prophets. If I can’t see through the fake outer covering, I can be swept away by things that are contrary to God’s word. I want to know that I am following God’s word and not the words of a false prophet. How can I be sure?

Let’s look at this concept from the lens of another relationship. I love my husband. I want to spend time with him. I want to know everything about him – his favorite foods, his favorite pastimes, his favorite music. I could ask his closest friends, and they could probably tell me everything I want to know, or I could spend time with him myself to find out.

My relationship with God works the same – I could learn quite a bit about God by listening to others, but I need to know Him for myself. That’s why I should be spending time with Him, so that when those false prophets try to deceive me, I know Him and His word, not just what I have been told about Him.

What does it really matter how I know about God, as long as I know about him, right? Think about someone that you know well. Are there small things that you see that others might not notice because they don’t know the person as well. Are there certain mannerisms that this person uses that tell you things that their words are not saying? Are there certain phrases this person says that give you inside information? You know this person so well that you hear what their words are not saying. You haven’t just learned about them from someone else, you truly know this person so well that you see the thoughts and emotions they can easily hide from those who do not know them.

We are living in an unprecedented time in our nation. We can find information in abundance with just a few clicks. Some of it is completely true and valid. Some of it is skewed and misrepresented. It is easy to be deceived by false prophets if we don’t know the truth. It is so easy to be deceived by what others say when it sounds good, even though it is not. God’s truth is God’s truth. No matter how we try to rationalize and justify it, we can’t make it true if God says it isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to listen to the teachings of others. In fact, as Christians, it is so important that we come together and learn from one another. It’s not okay to take the word of others as gospel truth. It is the responsibility of each of us to search scriptures for ourselves so that we recognize those false prophets and are able to refute their teachings with God’s truth.