Weekly Devotion - "STUDY AND OBEY" - Nov. 15, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Coordinator

STUDY AND OBEY

For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

Ezra 7:10

After 70 years in exile, the captives from Judah returned to their homeland where they rebuilt the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia (Extra 6:14). It was a time of building and prosperity under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah (Ezra 6:14). The people of Israel – the priests, the Levities and rest of the exiles – celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy (Ezra 6:16).

Fifty-seven years later when Ezra returned to the land with a second group of exiles (Ezra 7:8), he discovered a solid temple, but a shambled people. They knew God’s Word, but failed to obey it. They compromised and conformed to the world by intermarrying neighboring peoples with their detestable practices (Ezra 9:1). The leaders and officials who should’ve been teaching them the Word of God led the way in this unfaithfulness (Ezra 9:2).   

Ezra was a priest, a scribe, and a great leader who knew the Word and obeyed it. Through his humble and obedient leadership, he helped lead the people back to God. He has much to teach as we seek to be humble leaders that feed the fire among a people that have conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2).

Know the Word. Ezra was well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given (Ezra 7:6). He devoted himself to the study . . . of the Law of the LORD (Ezra 7:10).  He not only had the law of God in his hand (Ezra 7:14) it was in his heart. When he heard of their intermarriage, his knowledge of Scripture made him immediately conscious of sin (Romans 3:20, Ezra 9:6). Are we well versed in the Word? When we waste time at work, gossip, judge the person sitting at the end of the pew, and miss opportunities to do good to all people, are we immediately conscious of our sin?

Obey the Word. Ezra devoted himself to the observance of the Law of the LORD (Ezra 7:10). He didn’t just know it; he obeyed it and through his example led others to do the same. When he heard of their intermarriage and compromise with the culture around them, he prayed, fasted, confessed, and wept. He threw himself down before the house of God and a large crowd of Israelites followed suit. They wept bitterly, confessed their unfaithfulness to God, and renewed a covenant with Him. All of it was done according to the Law (Ezra 10:1-4). Do we obey the Word in such a way that others desire to repent and return to God? As His disciple makers do we practice what we preach, and teach others to obey Jesus’ commands (Matthew 28:20)?

PASSION Step: Study and obey. Like Ezra, your leadership and example is needed in today’s compromised world.

Revival comes when God’s people heed God’s Word and do what God tells them to do.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Weekly Devotion - "STUDY GOD'S WORD" - Nov. 8, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manger

STUDY GOD’S WORD

But his (her) delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he (she) meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:2

When it comes to food, I have an acquired taste for lettuce. For the first half of my life I made sandwiches without it, and always ordered soup instead of salad. As an adult, I started adding one small leaf of lettuce to my BLTs to keep it true to its name and over time I began eating lettuce salads, first because I had to (it was good for me!) and now because I want to (I’ve acquired the taste!)

In his book, Spiritual Rhythm – Being with Jesus Every Season of Your Soul, Mark Buchanan writes that studying and feasting on God’s Word is mostly an acquired taste. He says, “Few people leap from the womb with an instinctual hunger for the Word – or they do, but the hunger gets damped by long years of gorging ourselves on everything and anything but the Word: trashy books and inane television shows and gory movies and rounds of gossip and the endless swapping of opinions.”

To acquire the taste for God’s Word requires delight and meditation. Psalm 1:1-2 says, Blessed is the man (woman) who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the set of mockers. But his (her) delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he (she) meditates day and night.

Like so many things that are good and necessary, it begins with a choice.

1. Choose to value God’s Word. If the amount of time you read your Bible were clocked, would it be measured as your most treasured possession? In Psalm 119 the writer unabashedly declares his love for God’s Word! Oh, how I love your law! (v 97a). It is sweeter than honey (v 103) and I love it more than gold, more than pure gold (v 127).

2. Choose to delight in God’s Word. What’s your attitude toward studying God’s Word? Is it dread or delight? Duty or desire? Sitting down to read God’s Word everyday may begin as a duty, but He will move it to delight if you pray for it. It’s your responsibility to get to the table to eat. Ask Him to acquire your taste.

3. Choose to meditate on God’s Word. What’s your course of action to reading God’s Word? Do you meditate on it – thoughtfully deliberating the implication it has for your life and obeying what He reveals to you? Or do you thoughtlessly snack on meager helpings? The more you read God’s Word, the more you won’t want to miss a meal! I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word (Psalm 119:6).

PASSION Step: What do you want your legacy to be when it comes to reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word? Write it down in one sentence. Begin today.

He who loves the Word and purity of its precepts cannot turn traitor.

William Gurnall



Greetings to Area 28!

I apologize for the delay in posting the past month's devotionals - hopefully you will 'catch yourself up' as I have and take a moment to reflect on God's Word.  We hope all is going well with you your clubs.   Our club will be holding our theme badge night this Friday - please pray for it to be a blessing.  And pray for Amy as she leads us as the Fire Chief, once again! 

May you continue to feel the PASSION have a great day everyone!
In His Service,
Lisa
GEMS Area 28 AC

Weekly Devotion - "GET IN THE WORD" - Nov. 1, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Colossians 3:16a

As a mom of adult children, I’m still learning when it’s time to listen and when it’s time to give a sermon. When I get that wrong, my daughters let me know. “I don’t need a sermon right now, Mom.” That’s when I lean in, listen, and sometimes give a loving sermonette anyway.

In Hebrews 13:22 the unidentified author of the book says, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter. Granted it’s fairly short and in letterform, but let’s call it what it is: It’s a sermon. It’s a sermon that exhorts and encourages its readers to leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1). It’s a book that prompts us to quit playing with matches and go feed the fire!

One of the ways we grow up in Christ and become mature in our understanding of Him is to get in the Word. Maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t need a sermon about studying the Bible more. It’s all I can do to read the few verses I’m reading.” The writer of Hebrews leans in and gives us the sermon anyway.

Pay careful attention to the Word. We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away (Hebrews 2:1). Get in the Word. Listen intently when it’s being read, read it slowly when you’re studying it for yourself, and apply its truth to your life. If we neglect the Word we’ll drift, and there’s nothing passionate, zealous, or mature about drifters (Revelation 3:15-16, Romans 12:11).

Eat the Word. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:13-14). “Milk” is the basics of God’s Word, the elementary teachings of Christ that must be learned when we come to Him. Although we always treasure the milk of God’s Word, we must add “solid foods” to our diet. Get in the Word. Dig deeper than you have in the past. Let it be training grounds to differentiate between right and wrong. Training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17) comes by constant use (Hebrews 5:14). ¬If we’re not constantly in the Word, we’ll be as immature as infants, instead of doing what ought to be done – teaching others the elementary truths of God’s Word (Hebrews 5:12).

Let the Word penetrate your life. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edge sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Get in the Word. Prayerfully read it and allow God to reveal your true spiritual condition. Listen, obey, and let it shape your life.

PASSION Step: Get in the Word.

Do not be surprised when the world around you rips away the Word of God.

Sometimes we don’t even listen.

Jon Bushnell

Weekly Devotion - "PRAY CONSTANTLY AND STUDY GOD’S WORD" - Oct. 25, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees.
Psalm 119:33a

During the 2010-2011 GEMS season girls and counselors are feeding the fire by making these PASSION disciplines part of their day-to-day lives:

Pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
And
Study God’s Word (Psalm 119:105)
Serve others (Ephesians 6:7-8a)
Interact with God’s people (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Open up and talk about God (Matthew 28:19)
Notice God in the Ordinary (Jeremiah 29:13)

Although Pray constantly And Study God’s Word fit neatly within the acronym, the conjunction that joins those two disciplines runs deeper than mere convenience. They’re dependent on one another! Prayer is talking and listening to God and one of the primary ways that God speaks to His people is through His Word. And to rightly hear and understand God’s Word, we need prayer. We should always ask the Author of the book and of our lives to teach us to understand His Word. Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands (Psalm 119:73).

Each time you open your Bible, pray that God will meet you and that you will experience Him in His Word. Be expectant that He will surprise you with a new insight. Anticipate that He will give you new discoveries even within your favorite and most familiar passages!

Within his book When I Don’t Desire God, John Piper introduces the acronym I.O.U.S. to guide our prayers before reading God’s Word.

Incline my heart to You, not to prideful gain or false motive. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain (Psalm 119:36).

Open my eyes to behold wonderful things in Your Word. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Unite my heart to fear Your name. Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name (Psalm 86:11).

Satisfy me with Your steadfast love. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days (Psalm 90:14).

PASSION Step: Each time you open God’s Word stop and pray before you read. Expect God to speak to you.

Triumphant prayer is almost impossible where there is neglect of the study of the Word of God. If we then let the words of Christ abide in us, they will stir us up in prayer.

Reuben Archer Torrey

Weekly Devotion - "TEACH US TO PRAY" - Oct. 18, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Luke 11:1

Scripture never records that the disciples asked Jesus how to preach, but it does say that they asked Him how to pray. From their request we receive Jesus’ teaching on prayer known best as the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1-4). Christ alone is our prefect prayer teacher.

Other prayer teachers in Scripture include Hannah who teaches us to pour out our soul to the LORD when we are deeply troubled (1 Samuel 1:15), Jonah who teaches that prayer can indeed take place anywhere, including the inside of a fish (Jonah 2:1), Daniel teaches us to be faithful and courageous in prayer even when it may result in our being lunch to lions (Daniel 6), Nehemiah teaches that the first step into any undertaking is prayer and that every step that follows demands persistence in prayer (Nehemiah 1), and Epaphras teaches us to wrestle in prayer for the body of Christ (Colossians 4:12).

Prayer teachers are not limited to God’s Word. It is also right and good to be encouraged and challenged by one another. I have the privilege of participating in a monthly Bible study with the GEMS leaders from my local club. We’re joining many other clubs across the continent in studying the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. During one of our studies, a dear sister in Jesus admitted that she has attention deficit when it comes to prayer – it’s just so hard for her to stay focused. Heads nodded, we identified, and began to learn from each other.

One lady said she taught herself to pray before her third child was born. She sat at a table with her pen and notebook and by writing down her prayers, she learned to pray. She now has a sizable stack of journals that will be a treasured heirloom to future generations. Another lady said she’s started to practice what Francis talks about in his video by stopping for 30 seconds before she prays, picturing God, and then speaking to Him. It’s changed everything for her.

As meaningful as it is to think of all the people, places, and books, we can go to learn to pray, it’s important to remember the wise words of another prayer teacher, E.M. Bounds, who said, “Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet.”

PASSION Step: Think of someone whose prayer life you really admire? Go to her. Ask her questions. Don’t be afraid to say, “Will you spend some time with me? I want to learn from you about prayer.”

The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time and pray. They have not time. It must be taken from something else. This something else is important. Very important, and pressing, but still less important and pressing than prayer.

S.D. Gordon

Weekly Devotion - "BELIEVING PRAYER" - Oct. 11, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him (her)

from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.
Psalm 20:6

In his book, The Christian Atheist – Believing in God but living as if He doesn’t exist, Craig Groeschel writes about a pastor who asked his church to pray that God would shut down a local bar. The church held a special prayer meeting, and a few weeks later, lightening struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The bar owner heard about the prayer meeting and sued the church. In court, the owner of the bar pleaded his case – God struck his bar with lightening because of the prayers of this church. Then the pastor stood before the judge and admitted they prayed, but they really didn’t expect anything to happen.

Groeschel writes, when the judge finally spoke he said, “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Right in front of me is a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and a pastor who doesn’t.”

That scenario is as old as the early church. When Peter was arrested and in prison, the church was earnestly praying to God for him (Acts 12:5). Yet, when an angel of the Lord miraculously helped Peter escape and he was standing at the front door of the house where the prayer meeting was taking place, Rhoda was initially too surprised to open the door, and the rest of the group was astonished (Acts 12:12-16). Did they not believe in the power of prayer? Do we?

What best describes our prayers – babbling or belief? Don’t babble! “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:7). Instead, believe! But when he (she), asks he (she) must believe and not doubt, because he (she) who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man (woman) should not think he (she) will receive anything from the Lord; he (she) is a double-minded man (woman), unstable in all he (she) does (James 1:6-8).

In light of that truth, however great our faith, if we pray something that is contrary to God’s will, He mercifully won’t give it to us. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him (1 John 5:14-15).

Maybe your prayer life is marked by rote or routine, instead of passion and power. Most of us don’t need another devotional about prayer. What’s needed most is the passion to do it – moving from a lukewarm prayer life to a passionate one, and belief in its power ¬– the prayer of the righteous man (woman) is powerful and effective (James 5:16b).

PASSION Step: Pray with passion and belief that the LORD of heaven hears and answers your prayers (Psalm 20:6).

Effective prayer is prayer that attains what it seeks. It is prayer that moves God, affecting its end.

Charles Finney