His Amazing Word

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

---

This week, on one of the Instagram accounts I follow, the site owner posed the question: What good thing happened to you this year?  She added, “Let’s spread some gratitude vibes.”  My answer? That my faith has gotten so much more in-depth and stronger.  Amazing, given what’s all happened in 2020.   I no longer have a home church.  In fact, I haven’t been to church since the last weekend of February.  When I questioned my church closing indefinitely, I was met with some pretty nasty responses.  And when I asked to be removed from the rolls I received an email from the assistant pastor with a polite version of “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

So, it’s pretty amazing that without a body of faithful Christians to help in my growth that I am where I am today.  

When I looked over this week’s post by Madison and myself, I realized that my growth was reflected in the lessons.  The acceptance of God’s amazing interruptions – knowing He works all things for my good.  The acknowledgement of His amazing authority over all situations – yes, even the ones that don’t seem to make any sense.  The proof that He loves me by reading the Book of John.  And how much my picture of Jesus has changed these last few months – from a historical figure to a spirit that lives inside me.

My devotional this week had a day titled, “What to do when trouble comes.”  It’s based on 1 Timothy 6:17 which states, “Fight the good fight of the faith.”  It went on to say that trouble is a part of life, so we simply have to be ready for it. (Joyce Meyer, New Day, New You).  A friend told me the other day she wishes she could just fast forward to 2022.  My response? “Why? There might be a nuclear fallout that year.  So, you might as well find joy in today.”   

How do we, as Christians, get prepared?  How do we build up our amazing faith muscle for that day when trouble comes, because it most certainly will?  And looking at this week’s blog posts the answer is clear – steeping ourselves in God’s Holy Word.  

I find myself extremely blessed to have started a small Bible study group – they’re my BSGs (Bible study girls) – back in January.  I was encouraged by one of the members to re-start a study group.  On an urging by the Holy Spirit, I invited two other women from my gym. They eagerly said yes.  So, the four of us embarked on a journey we had no idea would be an anchor for us this year.  We started out with easy faith muscles and moved up to weightier topics.  These three women became my church.  My amazing sisters in Christ.  It wasn’t just about having women that wanted to get together.  We’ve put in the work.  We’ve been diligent in our faith workouts.  We’ve dug deep not only into His Word but into our own sins.

I’ve led other Bible studies before.  There’s always a few that blow off doing the homework and not take it seriously.  Then there’s others that aren’t willing to take the opportunity to open themselves up for conviction.  If we truly want to know God’s character, not ours, and God’s will, not ours, we need to use His Divine Word as our touchstone.  The world longs to cheat us out of the true, amazing, love God has for us.  The world plays a shell game with morality.  If we want to grab on to the more than 5,000 promises God makes in the Bible then we need to treat it seriously.

Did you need to re-read that last sentence? More than 5,000 promises.  How many of them do you know?  How many of them have you taken to heart?  Those amazing promises are sitting right there in that book.  

Jesus asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

Matthew 9:28

Let’s be a church together and dive deep into those promises.  Let’s be a church together that accepts His interruptions with joy and peace.  Let’s be a church together that places His authority over everything in our lives.  Let’s be a church that needs no other proof of His love for us than our own existence.  Let’s be a church together that sees Jesus for who He is – our Lord and Savior who loves us and wants for us to live apart from what the world throws at us.  Today we can open up His Word and find joy right there on its pages.