Craving God

I sit and I stare at this picture. 

It reminds me that I'm hungry.  Not physically, but spiritually. Not hungry for the simple but satisfying taste of fresh bread, but for a simple yet transforming bite of the Bread of Life.

A fresh piece, just pulled from the loaf. Still warm. With the yeasty smell discernible and the ability to melt what it comes into contact with.

That's what I crave today. To be melted by God.  Into God.  To become infused.

I spend so much time resisting my cravings - cravings for too much of this, forbidden that, or a brand new one of those. I have to be careful not to automatically resist this craving too. Not to decide that I'll indulge it later. Or satisfy it tomorrow.

So as I stare at this picture I drop what I'm doing and reach for the scriptures. The book weighs in my hand like a dense loaf of sweet bread. I open and tear off a bite.

"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

I tend to think blessed are those who do not sin. And yet, this verse says blessed are those whose sins are covered. Who are forgiven.

Blessedness is never something I achieve but something I'm given. Something I'm privy to in Christ. Something I'm gifted with by Him.

Something I'm thankful for.

Something that calls forth in me a desire to please God.

I chew. I swallow, allowing the truth of the gospel to make its way into my bones. 

I invite God to come in and cover me. 

And I look back at the picture of the bread, hoping it will incite in me tomorrow the same craving it did today.

How do you study your Bible?

One question I get a lot is how do I study my Bible?

For a long time I didn't really - I just read Chrisitan books that had portions of scripture already digested and explained for me. Now, don't think that I'm knocking the value of Christian books ... they have been invaluable to my walk with Christ! And they continue to be. However, I also needed to get into the Bible myself and allow God to meet me and teach me there. It felt hard to get started though.

Then one of my mentors told me a very a freeing thing. She said, "Don't worry about the where or the how, just open your Bible every day and read something." "Ask God to make that time beneficial, and trust that He will do so even if you don't feel like its very effective at the moment." I started doing that - and many days I sensed that I had experienced something of God in those moments of time. Other days, well, not so much, but I didn't let that deter me.

Soon I began using pre-packaged Bible studies. I've enjoyed some by Beth Moore like Jesus the One and Only, and also Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God. I attended BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) a couple of years, and CBS (Community Bible Study) one year. These were more instensive than I was used to, but the great thing was childcare was provided which made it possible for me to go. I know how hard it is to make time for Bible study when you have little ones at home. These studies all helped me to see the value of moving beyond my just-open-and-read approach, although I still do some of that.

In more recent years I became a little more intentional about digging into the Bible myself without a book or prepackaged study to guide me. I guess I was looking for a more organic experince. I've been exploring different methods for this, and found many of them valuble. Some help me to memorize a verse easily. Others help me to follow a theme over the course of time. Others still, help me to understand the full context of a particular verse or teaching. If you search my blog for the tag "time with God" you'll find a couple posts about it. Let me know if you'd like to hear more ideas from me on this topic.

The better I undersand God's word and thinking - really encounter and understand it for myself - the easier I find it to apply and obey. If you read my devotion at P31 today, you'll realize my daughter and I are actually a lot alike!!

I'd love to hear what works for you. What tips, tools, or resources can you offer for studying the Bible on our own? What's your Bible study journey been like - where are you on the road?

Crossing the border

Today I'm chewing on the following passage from Mark 12:28-34 in the Message translation:

One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: "Which is most important of all the commandments?"

Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."

The religion scholar said, "A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that's better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!"

When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, "You're almost there, right on the border of God's kingdom."

Why did Jesus consider this man insightful?  Is it because he asked an intelligent question? Nope. It's because when he heard Jesus' answer he recognized that zealously loving God and people is more important in God's eyes than all the money we give, all the church committees we sit on, all the times we fast, or how many verses we can recite by heart.

Not that there is anything wrong with any of those things. They are good in fact. But the single most important trait in God's eyes is being loving. Think for a minute what it means to be a loving person.

What would it look like for you to be a characteristically loving person?

What would it take?  That's what it will take for you to live fully in God's kingdom.

I pray that we will not simply dwell on the border of God's Kingdom - rather we will cross over and enter fully in. Let's jump in feet first without hesitation and live each day within these boundaries God has marked out for us. Let's become great lovers!

Keep your eyes peeled today for opportunities to simply be love to those around you.