Book Fast #3

Good Morning.

This won't be a Polished Post (Hey. There's a future title.) Tell me, what should it be about?

I won't be including any quotes, today, as I'm fasting from books. This is my third week (one day per week), when I've set aside Christian growth books, commentaries, and novels in order to give myself completely to the Bible. I missed my 10-15 minute bed and book time this morning, but I'm excited about what God is doing in my life.

This morning, I eyed the cantaloupe on my kitchen counter, hoping I'd chosen an aromatic, sweet, and juicy (but crisp) fruit. It made me think of my book fast. After a season of eating "stored" apples, or oranges, or shipped from who-knows-where melons, the taste of rippened-on-the vine, in-season fruit is incredible! I'm finding, that after long seasons of reading man's (woman's) interpretation of God's Word, the "real thing" is absolutely refreshing and nourishing. I find myself wanting more. And more. That's a good thing, right?

I read God's Word daily. It just seems that the concerted effort of reading "nothing-but" is awakening my hunger. I feel a communion with God growing and I find myself longing for an even deeper communion.

Well friends, not polished, but hopefully motivating. I've a few minutes before work to hang out with Jeremiah or to return to my devotional Scriptures.

Who have you been hanging out with lately? Paul? Peter? Hosea? Joyce Meyer? Anne Graham Lotz? Jim Cymbala?

I am so thankful for men and women that God has gifted with teaching. I'm grateful that He has allowed me to write. But, I pray today that God causes the Body of Christ to hunger and thirst for His Word.

Ever Growing,
Lonnie

Book Hog Fasts From Books

Challenged by Ruth Graham to compare the time I spent reading God's Word to the time I spent reading books, I took a day to fast from books. That's no small challenge for a book hog. I intentionally chose my day off. Fasting any other day would be like giving up iceberg lettuce for lent . . . not much sacrifice, and offering few benefits.

I hung out with Jeremiah for the day. With 3 translations available, I could read any or all, but no commentaries. In Jeremiah? What was I thinking? What I found profoundly interesting was how many times I ran across verses like, "The Word of the Lord has become a reproach to them -- they have not listened to My Words -- they rejected the Word of the Lord."

I could sigh with relief because "I," indeed was making a concerted effort to be in God's Word . . .

Or . . .

I could receive the conviction due me: Lonnie, it's not just about spending more "time" reading Scripture. Time speaks of priority.

As I ponder my day of fasting and ponder Jeremiah's words, I realize that priority isn't all about clock-time. It isn't about how long I read or how much I read of God's Word. That does little more than give birth to pride and self-righteousness.

Priority also speaks of heart-time. I wondered what that looked like. Asking myself, "Why?" helped me to see. Why should I spend more time in God's Word? The beginning of my list looks like this:

To know God
To understand His expectations and promises
To keep my armor in functioning condition -- to counteract the lies and discouragement that the world hands me every day
For comfort -- to realize that I'm not alone. Paul tells us that any temptation we face is common to man
To see how God deals with sin
To discover how God blesses the obedient
To know what's coming

Spending time in God's Word is a way to commune with Him. It's a place and time to feel His heart; to receive His instruction and encouragement.

Not unlike a retired smoker who misses his cigarette after a meal, I missed "my books" at bedtime. I told myself that I'd done well and that reading a book before going to sleep would be no big deal. Then I caught this verse running through my head: "Could you not keep watch with me for one hour? (Matt. 26:40 NIV)" I know there is no real connection, but it got my attention.

Good grief. I've made it through the day. What's 10 or 20 minutes more? I put my book down and picked up Jeremiah. And . . . the next night, I picked up Jeremiah again. I've, since, found myself reading Jeremiah during some of my breaks. God had whet my appetite and it felt good. He'd raised my curiosity. That felt good, too. He is working. I want to cooperate.

I'm considering a weekly fast, a day to read only God's Word. David tells us in the Psalms that God's Word is a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path. May it be so for me. May God's Word become such a natural part of my thoughts, that It guides me step by step by step.

What part does God's Word play in your life? What could you add to my list? Have you fasted from books? From T.V.? The internet? Share your experience.

Loving God; Loving His Word,
Lonnie

Too Many Books

Too many booksales. Too may books. And once again, I'm reading too many at one time.

Please, someone, tell me you can relate.

I become aware, with my overindulgence, that I need to discern between what's truth and what's embellishment . . . between what is over-emphasized and what is under-emphasized. I need a greater knowledge of God's Word. I need to cherish His Word above those of man. For that reason, I often think I'll fast from books . . . from man's thoughts, in order to read more of the Bible . . . God's thoughts.

But . . .

I stumble the very first morning. I lay my Bible on the table, and right next to it, my devotion book. "Does that count?" I ask myself. Then I give up.

I guess my heart and mind need primed like an old-time water pump. The pumps needed a taste of water in order to give more water. My devotion books work that way. They, and their prescribed Scriptures, give me direction and sort of tune me in to God.

So while I'm entertaining these notions of a book fast, I read this: (in a book, of course) "Compare the amount of time you invest in reading books with the time you spend reading God's Word." *

I love studying the Bible, but compared to books, do I give it equal time? Not even close! So, I began to pray about how to actually fulfill my resolution of a book fast.

"How about one day at a time? Or two?"

Maybe that "is" the problem. I always determine to fast from books for a week, or a month. Frankly, that overwhelms.

I love to learn.

I can't sleep without reading.

I can't drink coffee without reading.

I can't eat without reading.

And yes, I keep reading material in the bathroom.

But, "a" day, with only the Bible? I could do that. And, I won't slap my hand for pulling out a devotion book; but that's the only allowance I'll give myself.

How about you? Will you accept the challenge with me? If so, let me know how it goes? What was hard? What was good?

Within the next week, I'm going to try "a" day. I'm excited to see what God has to teach me.

Ever Reading,
Lonnie

* Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There by Ruth Graham, p. 26

Fully Present

"How true it is that unless we are involved with Jesus Christ in a loving and adoring relationship, we have nothing of eternal value to offer to a needy world . . . our worship of God must take priority over our work for God . . . In the atmosphere of worship we see more clearly what we should do and our work becomes a daily joy instead of a daily grind." (Light For The Path by Selwyn Hughes p. 359)

Hughes' devotion and Luke 10:42 took me back to the Mary-Martha challenge. Who am I?

In my journal, I claimed to have more Mary tendencies, more of a tendency to sit at Jesus feet. "Right! And the whole time you are sitting there, you are worrying about whether you're displeasing God and/or people by not "doing."

"Excuse me. Who's there? Who's speaking? God is that You?"

The picture is absolutely accurate. I love my morning quiet times, my times in the Scripture and learning from God. I enjoy times spent studying for and writing articles. But I also worry (lots) about what people think. My dad equated sitting with laziness. And understandably so; he grew up on a farm.

So, the Scriptures and I talked back and forth for a while.

"God, what are you trying to teach me?

"I know that I can't leave all the work to others.

"However, Scripture doesn't say that Mary never helped out. Martha doesn't even say that."

A couple of things come to mind: an anecdote where a young boy says, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm standing up on the inside!" Trying to be Mary and Martha at the same time doesn't work.

And then there's the man James talks about who is double-minded and unstable in all his ways. Ouch! Don't much care for that. But doesn't that, too, describe me?

My pastor teaches us that, when with people, we need to be fully present. We need to listen, to give that person our attention, rather than thinking about what we want to say or thinking about the next task on our list. Perhaps, that's what God is asking of me. "When you're with Me, I'd like you to be fully present."

I believe Mary was fully present. And that, Jesus said, He would not take away from her.

I'm excited with Hughes' thoughts: that in my worship I will discover what God would have me to do and I will receive joy (the right heart) to do it.

I've much more to learn, and I'm excited to see where God will take me with this. Please, share your thoughts. When you're with God, are you fully present? Isn't it cool that when God's with us -- no matter when, no matter where -- HE IS FULLY PRESENT.

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

My Books Are Noisy

"in this modern age people seem to find it difficult to sit quietly for long. They must have a radio blaring or something else to drown the silence."

"The quiet time," writes Selwyn Hughes, "is where the soul grows receptive."

I want to be receptive -- to God's directions, His conviction, His comfort, His companionship. So, I determined to plan at least 10 minutes of quiet time into my days. Mind you, I consider it a fast when I leave the radio off driving five miles to and from work.

My First Attempt Failed! A coffee shop with dark roast and a fire. Hmmm. I could just sit, entertain silence, listen for God, and enjoy. Right? I lasted One Minute! That's when I found out that my books are noisy. They interrupt my silence.

I am a self-proclaimed Book Hog. If I must sit, and I can't have t.v. or music, then I MUST have a book, magazine -- something! When my husband and I eat out (McD's or Applebees; it doesn't matter) I take a book along. No, I'm not so rude as to read during our "date." But . . . if he goes to the bathroom, I pull out my reading material. And, oh, when I walk nature paths, I take a book or Bible and a pencil and notecards. You never know; bird song, waves lapping against the shore, and immeasurable beauty might not hold my attention for an hour. Good grief! Apparently silence and I have a couple issues.

"Our lives," writes Anne Graham Lotz, "can be like that radio dial. We can be so jammed with signals coming from every direction that even when we tune in to the voice of God, He can be drowned out by other voices crowding in. If we are to hear Him clearly and loudly, there must be times of quietness built into our daily lives."

God created me with an insatiable desire to learn and with a love of discovery. He understands. But . . . the story is yours from here. What do you think? Are "quiet" times important? Are "your" books noisy? How are "you" at sitting still?

I suspect I'm missing some peace, joy and incredible blessings by not taking a few minutes each day to just "hang out with God." What do you think? Any suggestions for pulling it off?

About to try 5 minutes,
Lonnie

A Christian? When?

"Those who have studied the manner in which people become Christians tell us there are two main ways of coming to faith in Christ. One is through a dramatic conversion, whereby a person confronted with the claims of Christ yields to Him in a single moment. The other is when a person moves more slowly into faith, and sometimes cannot pinpoint the exact moment when he or she made the great surrender. What must be remembered is that both experiences are valid. The best evidence that we are alive is not our birth certificate but the fact we are going about our daily lives as living, breathing people."
Selwyn Hughes goes on to explain that he doesn't worry about whether people have a "date" of conversion as long as he sees evidence of them desiring to pray, desiring to be in God's Word, and eager to fellowship with other Christians.

I remember Olga. She lived downstairs from us in our early married life. She was of one of those denominations. They didn't believe in a time, a particular prayer, or that word "saved." But, she told of when her husband died -- when she had learned to depend on Jesus Christ. She didn't say, "I gave my life to Christ," but we knew she had.

I'd love to hear of how you came to faith. Was it in a moment? Or over the years? I'd enjoy hearing what you think of the above quote. Does it confirm your thinking? Change it?

So grateful that God knows our hearts,
Lonnie

Light For The Path
Selwyn Hughes
Broadman and Holman 1999

Victim Turned Victor

I found myself checking through my closet to find an outfit for my latest pity party. Having attended many such parties before, I had several outfits to choose from. "Lonnie," God said, "You don't need pity. You need compassion and my compassions are new every morning." I exchanged my victim uniform for one of a victor.(see Lamentations 3:22-23)

This lesson is huge!

I'd been intentionally wielding the Sword of the Spirit against Satan and the battles he was throwing my way. When I was making little headway, God reminded me that I needed the "full" armor of God. I'd forgotten to take up the shield of faith. (Ephesians 6:16) God, I don't have faith. I can't stir it up. I can't produce it on demand. He reminded me to fix my eyes on Jesus, "the author and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2) He reminded me also that "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)

This post is full of Scripture, but how immensely blessed I am to have it at my disposal. Christians all over the world are without the written Word of God. Please read His Word and read it often. Here's why: "the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26 NIV) He can't "remind" you of something you've never read or heard. Don't put super-sized goals out there -- an hour or two daily. Start with 15 minutes. Soon enough, you'll find that time stretching because you'll enjoy the feeling of a full and satisfied spirit.

Have you learned any HUGE lessons lately? If so, did God's Word play a part of that lesson?

Great is His Faithfulness!
Lonnie