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Encouragement and Tools to Abide in God's Word

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Recap: Good tidings in modern times

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In the past month we’ve celebrated the Word who became flesh and lived among us. We’ve talked about how to use our gift of words to display God’s glory and to share His truth. It’s all about Good Tidings in Modern Times.Good tidings in modern times

Good tidings tools we’ve shared

Though most ribbons are untied and most gifts are unwrapped, it’s still the right time to use our gift of language to reflect and share about the Word.  In him is life itself!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)

We’re grateful to have you reading with us at Do Not Depart as we share tools and encouragement to abide in the Word.

 

If your thoughts have already turned to a new year and you just can’t wait for January inspiration, take a look at last year’s theme about Spiritual Disciplines.

How to Grow in Spiritual Disciplines

(from January 2013)

 

Christmas: What to do when it’s over

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Before Christmas, there are designated songs to sing, appropriate decorations to display, and even timely tasks to do. But when it’s suddenly “done,” people sometimes flounder and ask, “What now?”
Good tidings in modern times
Life’s challenges didn’t pause for Christmas, and it doesn’t take long for leftovers and laundry to pile up. So “What now?” What do we do AFTER Christmas? Some of the most humble earthly characters of the incarnation story left a not-so-humble example for us to follow.

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:20)

If our attention and our hearts were truly turned afresh to the coming of Christ as a babe in swaddling clothes as the hope of all men, then it should show on the day after Christmas.

  • The shepherds went back to their regular lives.
  • The shepherds went back as changed people.
  • The shepherds continued to believe what they had heard and seen.
  • The shepherds glorified and praised God.

Most of our readers (and all of our team!) fit more closely into the “shepherds” category than the wise men/kings category. We can take our after Christmas cues from the common folk of old who experienced the not-so-common birth of God’s Son, Jesus.

  • Get back to regular life. What we celebrated changes life today!
  • Get back to work, but be changed because of what you know.
  • Keep on believing in the truth of Christ’s coming.
  • Let your heart be full of praise and overflow in words of praise.

Everyone who heard what the shepherds had to share wondered at the news. As the cultural distractions of the season fade, let’s give our world reason to “wonder” at how Christ’s coming changes every day of our year!

 Other “After Christmas posts” from our team you might enjoy:

5 Tips for Setting Spiritual Growth Goals for the New Year with Kathy Howard

The Most Important Thing to Do This Christmas with Lindsey Bell

After Christmas Instructions with Julie

 

 

 

Christ in our conversations

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We don’t need an official calendar holiday in order to use the gift of words well. You might not even celebrate Christmas, but if we believe the account of the Babe in the manger, we must be inspired to share the good tidings.Good tidings in modern times

Christ belongs in our conversations. We’ve talked about some of the challenges of having the story of the Word who became flesh heard in our modern times. We’ve talked about using God’s gift of words to praise Him, and we’ve considered how to tame our tongues and  how to take care and caution in sharing responsibly in the social media age. But how do we use our words to naturally weave Jesus into our conversations? The sight of manger scenes, talk of peace on earth, and sounds of Silent Night open doors of opportunity to talk about the Prince of Peace, regardless of our take on the Christmas season.

If Jesus can find a place in an unlikely manger, it shouldn’t be so hard to find a place in the chatter of those who know Him. A simple, but intentional, question or comment may be the pivotal point to bring up “the Jesus” in our conversations.

Christ in our conversations

  • Q:  So do you have a favorite image that says “Christmas” to you?
  • A:  I love to imagine the manger scene. It’s hard to grasp that God became a helpless baby for me, but He did. Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to become a man?
  • Q:  What’s your favorite Christmas carol?
  • A:   I’ve sung a lot of them without even thinking. Recently, I paid attention to O Holy Night. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining ’til He appeared and the soul felt His worth.” I thought about how I was pining away for something to bring me hope before I knew the worth Jesus brings to my life.
  • Q:  So after Christmas comes the New Year. Do you have hopes for the year ahead?women chatting over coffee
  • A:  I’d love to pray about that for you. God says that if we give God the right place in our lives, He will direct our paths. I’ll ask Him to show you what good things He has for you.

Some day, our friend or relative may come to know Jesus as their personal Savior. While we’re rejoicing, they might be wondering why we didn’t speak up and turn our common conversations to spiritual things, life-changing things. News that the Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15 ESV).

When we use our gift of words to share the true events of the coming of Christ, we honor Him as holy. It’s not as complicated or frightening as we often make it. After all, the Word in us gives us hope, and that’s something amazing to talk about!

(Here is a printable sheet of more examples and reminders to help us include Christ in our conversations this Christmas and in the New Year.)

Do you have a way that works for you to turn conversations to Christ?

Good tidings in modern times

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I emerged from the gauntlet of perfume counters and white coated clerks thrusting sample cards under my nose. Pausing in a forest of mitten covered racks, I caught my breath and surveyed the scene, searching for it. A mention of Christmas? Evidence Christ was born? Suggestion of a manger? There was none.

Other than giant-sized posters of happy people dressed in red beneath a single word in large script saying “BELIEVE,” little proof existed to say the day was anything other than a national shopping day. “Believe what?” I wanted to shout. No one would’ve heard me over the din of doorbusters and “Next!” and crying children covered by packages in strollers.

But department store shouldn’t have to tell me what to believe. They exist for shopping days; they know their goal and they stay focused. So who’s the one to declare good tidings in these noisy, modern times?

For Christians, the Christmas season celebrates the incarnation of God’s Son, the earthly birth of the heavenly Savior. Known as “the Word,” even His name promised the giving of a message, news of hope for all mankind. And in the very story of His arrival, words took center stage.

  • announcements were made
  • government decrees were sent out
  • prophecy’s fulfillment was spoken
  • a baby was inspired by a greeting
  • good news of great joy was declared
  • songs were sung by united hosts
  • threats were sent out by Roman rulers
  • rejection was delivered by a busy innkeeper
  • worship was humbly spoken in the night

Good tidings in modern timesAlong with the gift of “The Word,” God gave us the gift of words of our own. He entrusted us with the power of voice, whether spoken, written, signed, painted or played. He gave us the power to convey a message. His message. We have the potential to declare the Good Tidings.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.“ John 1:14

Modern times are noisy times and times with more modes of delivering tidings than ever before.

With all of the words out there, people still want to know, “Believe what?”

And that’s where those entrusted with the power of words join with the shepherds and the angel host and the wise men to declare good tidings. Our modern times count on US to sound out the good news that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Will you join Do Not Depart this month as we explore the gift of words and rediscover the power and the joy of good tidings in modern times?

Bondage broken after 18 crippled years

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If you’re bent over, all you can see is the dirty ground, the earth from which we came. It would be hard to lift your eyes and look up with hope if your view excludes the faces of people, the landscape, or the horizon. Even work would be mostly out of reach, not to mention community life and relationships, without the ability to look into the eyes of another person or reach forward with purpose.crippled woman set free That’s how we meet one unnamed woman in the Gospels.

Bent over for eighteen years, the crippled woman of Luke 13:10-17 had been “kept bound” by Satan himself. Unable to even straighten up, she waited at a house of worship, a synagogue. When Jesus came to her synagogue on a Sabbath day and saw the woman’s condition, he set her on a path to change the course of her life.

Freedom from bondage

On that day, the woman long bound by Satan was unbound.

The Devil is a supplier of sickness, a developer of diseases, and an ambassador of affliction. He loved taking a woman made in the image of God and twisting her with an infirmity as a trophy of his bondage. But then Jesus saw her, called her forward, and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Jesus laid his hands on her and right away her gnarled spirit-bound body straightened up. Right away, she praised God, because that’s what a genuinely unbound woman does.

Staying in bondage

On that day, a religious ruler long bound by tradition stayed bound.

The Devil has planted the sickness of legalism in the hearts of the religious ruler and his friends. Though not visibly bent in body, their hearts were gnarled by their regard for rules. As quickly as the freed woman stood to her full height in praise, the synagogue ruler was overcome with indignation, blurting out rebuke to the Healer for healing on the Sabbath day. Instead of a declaration of worship, he responded by defending the same hollow tradition that was unable to free the woman during any of her bent up, eyes down, infirmity ridden eighteen years. Jesus rebuked him in return, allowing the crowd to hear His heart for setting captives free. Instead of lifting up His opponents as He had the crippled woman, “all his opponents were humiliated” (v.17b).

The Devil despises the image bearers of God, but Jesus came to “free captives”(Isaiah 42:6-7) from the bondage of the Enemy. Has the supplier of sickness, the developer of disease, the ambassador of affliction bent you down physically, spiritually, or emotionally? Do you feel like all you can see is the dirt of the road you walk? Are you finding it hard to lift up your eyes and see a hope-filled future?

Jesus sees you, calls you, and wants to free you from what the Enemy is using to bind you. What do your shackles look like? He is the true Bondage Breaker who can take a gnarled heart or twisted relationships or a downcast life and raise them up for His glory. Ask God to unbind you and help you walk in newness of life. Let yours be the next voice to praise Him, because that’s what a genuinely unbound woman does.

Has God given you freedom from bondage in your life? Leave a comment and share a praise.

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A Recap on Wisdom for Life

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We’ve been in pursuit of Wisdom for Life here this month. Our prayer is that we’ve given you some Bible study tools to know how to get the wisdom and insight you need for life as a woman, an employee, a mom, a friend, a wife, a sister, a child, a friend, a neighbor.

How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. (Proverbs 16:16)

A Recap on Wisdom for Life

Wisdom for Life

 Let us know if you were helped this Wisdom for Life month. Share in the comments if this helped you to “wise up.”

Ecclesiastes: Wisdom to Understand What Matters Most

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Today we welcome Stephanie Shott, founder of The MOM Initiative and author of Ecclesiastes: Understanding What Matters Most. We’ve asked her to pull back the curtain on this wisdom book that has many readers stumped. Find out why it’s a book of the Bible that helps us understand how to avoid wasting our lives. 

I have a huge affinity for Ecclesiastes. It was the unexpected place God took me when God called us to the mission field and I was desperately trying to make sense of that which didn’t make any sense at all.

Yet, it was one of those books of the Bible others had told me I would never really understand. So every year, when I read through the Bible, I would kind of ‘read over’ it, skimming the pages of what seemed to be one of the most negative twelve chapters I have ever read, written by one of the most pessimistic men who had ever lived.

But when I really needed to know what matters most in life, God planted my face and my heart smack dab in middle of that often avoided book where I discovered how we can make our lives count and minutes matter.

When Solomon was about 20 years old, he became the successor to his father, David’s throne. Solomon’s wildest dreams came true, when in a dream God asked him, “What shall I give you?”

Wise enough to choose wisdom, Solomon was given more than what he requested. He was a man who started really well, but didn’t cross the finish line as well as I’m sure he had hoped he would.

Solomon had it all. But like his daddy, he was a sucker for a pretty woman and what David did in moderation, Solomon did in excess. Somewhere along the way in his quest for more, he went from faithful to philanderer and from a man who worshiped God to a man who worshiped idols.

Ecclesiastes is written in his later years and was penned as a sort of riches to rags story. Kind of like a “been there, done that, you don’t want to go there” kind of message.

Wow! What a waste! All that wisdom and he still blew it!

That’s pretty scary to me!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to waste my life. It’s really one of my greatest fears. I don’t want to start out well and blow it along the way, do you?

I don’t want to spend my days letting life happen, focusing on the insignificant, and being so distracted by the dailies that I miss what really matters most.

And it can happen so easily. The laundry, the dishes, the all night cry-a-thons with the baby, little-league practice, work, life, even ministry – they all vie for our attention.

But what I love about Ecclesiastes is that Solomon covers the gamut of life experiences and gives us a solution to how we can make our lives count, not in spite of all of what is going on in our lives, but in light of it all.

From Solomon & the book of Ecclesiastes we learn:

1. WISDOM DOES NOT EQUAL PERFECTION ~ Knowing how we should live and actually living like we know we should are two very different things. Wisdom gives us the knowledge and ability to choose well, but it is an act of our will to actually do it.

Recently, I noticed a Facebook post from someone who is known to have a wealth of biblical knowledge, yet he is also known as a very hard and arrogant man. It’s pretty hard to tell someone about the love and mercy of God when others don’t see the love and mercy of God actively at work in the lives of His children. We are to be living epistles who live out loud for Christ. Not perfect. But passionately pursing a life that honors God.

2. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME GRASPING AT THE WIND ~ Throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon uses the terms, vanity and grasping at the wind a lot. But in Ecclesiastes 12, he sums up what is important in life and tells us the bottom-line to life is that we fear God and keep His commandments.

It’s easy to struggle with living for eternity in the midst of the dailies of life. But one day, with a toilet brush in one hand and a can of Comet in the other, the Lord showed me that I can even clean toilets to the glory of God.

It’s so easy to long for the significant rather than the menial. Yet, each is equal in God’s site when done for His glory. I’m not wasting my time when I’m cleaning toilets or scrubbing dried spaghetti off the carpets. With the right heart attitude, I can even do those things for eternity.

3. FAILURE IS NEVER FINAL ~ One of the hidden treasures of Ecclesiastes is the fact that it was written by a man who had forsaken God and followed false gods. He not only failed God, he forsook Him! But Ecclesiastes was penned in Solomon’s later years…after he had taken a detour and tried to live life under the sun apart from Him. The book of Ecclesiastes stands as a testimony to all of us that failure is never final.

I’ve failed God a lot. Maybe you have too. And it’s easy to think that God is done with us. But if you and I are still breathing, He’s not. He not only has a plan for your life, but He has plans for each minute of your life. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Do the next thing because He’s not done with you yet!

HAVE YOU EVER AVOIDED ECCLESIASTES? HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE YOU HAD LET GOD DOWN AND COULDN’T BE USED ANYMORE? WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW THAT MAY SEEM MUNDANE, YET CAN BE DONE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD?

Find Stephanie at www.stephanieshott.com

Wisdom for today … still calling

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The Bible isn’t the only book of wisdom. Around the globe, men have reached for other books claiming to be the source of wisdom, also known as “skill in godly living.” When biblical wisdom literature was recorded, scribes of parallel cultures and kingdoms also penned their words and stories. But when we talk about biblical truth, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16).  God’s book self identifies its content as inspired by the one true God, and that makes its wisdom unique and essential.

When we refer to biblical Wisdom Literature we include five books:  Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. The righteous, the wicked, and the true God play the main parts in these books, revealing the limits of mankind’s wisdom and the necessity of fearing of God to prosper and find peace. In the times their words were written, voices opposing God’s ways called out from ancient streets peppered with a plethora of gods, but today voices call out from media screens, digital highways, steel framed cities and hand held gadgets. The tug of war for how we live hasn’t changed, but in many ways, the appearance of “righteous” and “wicked” has. Some may assume, then, the Bible doesn’t speak to life today, but Wisdom Literature’s concrete teaching matters as much now as when Job scraped his oozing sores.

Keys to unlock the 5 Wisdom books:

  • Job – This book addresses the same questions asked today:  Can we trust God? Is He good? Where do we find real comfort? The relatable character’s story takes place outside of Israel. Ultimately, we can put our faith in the sovereign God.
  • Psalms – Not all of these songs written for public worship fit in the “wisdom” category. Divided into 5 books, the Book of Psalms likely began as personal expressions of emotion, adapted for congregations. This book gives shape to our intense feelings about life in pursuit of God. Basic Old Testament themes like the fall of man, the One God, and the covenant relationship come to life here.
  • Proverbs – This collection of wisdom makes it clear that to be skillful in godly living, we must fear God and walk His way in everyday life. Practical truths show what a restored life with God looks like in our behavior, producing a joyful, useful life. Wisdom is available to all, and we discover it by comparing the wise man, the foolish man, and the simple man.
  • Ecclesiastes – This is a book for our day; Ecclesiastes explores trusting in God while living in a messed up world. Poetic devices help organize these proverbs into clusters with a plot line about the unfolding of a  quest for a good and satisfying life. This could be written in our day.
  • Song of Solomon – Intimacy stirs up emotion, and this book of love poetry is no exception. With a variety of opinions on its interpretation, some treat it as an allegory of God’s love for Israel and others as a picture of Christ’s love for the church. Authorship is not certain, but we agree that it’s a love story. There’s no doubt this poetic book demonstrates how God’s ways are the pathway to delight.

In the New Testament the Book of James and some of Jesus’ own teaching also qualify as “Biblical Wisdom Literature,” but these five Old Testament books form the collection commonly known as Wisdom Literature.

Today, as in days of old, “fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7) but wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the market she raises her voice,” (Prov. 1:20).  Wisdom asks, “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Prov. 1:22). It’s hard to hear the call of wisdom in today’s world, but our children, families, and world are desperate to understand and apply skill in godly living that leads to a relationship with God and His peace.

“Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:22)

What evidence do you see that people desperately need biblical wisdom?

Click here for the printable Wisdom Bookmark to accompany our study of Wisdom Literature.

What the world needs now: WISDOM

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I dropped off my teenager and went to look for a parking spot. The place was packed. A man sat with his bottle and bag of books on the curb, staring at the pages as if they were empty. I wormed my way inside the store and past a long line of customers who looked like they’d been out all night. A swarm of humanity pushed each other aside to rifle through video games, movies, and gadgetry as if the store would close any minute … but it was mid-afternoon. From the upper level, a child screamed and ran away from an adult yelling obscene words to recapture him, and a man walked past me displaying an equally obscene t-shirt like a billboard on a highway. A couple sat on an old couch, groping one another as they watched the parade of people, but their gender was a mystery to me. Jesus once saw a throng such as that and “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36)

I ducked into the first aisle to search for my son, only to find myself in “Erotic Fantasy,” just on the other side of “Children’s Fiction.” With bookshelves towering over my head across the length of the warehouse, I thought, there must surely be a book containing answers for wise living that the crowds with me so desperately need.

  • Today’s world thirsts for wisdom that comes from God alone.
  • Today’s church is malnutritioned when it comes to vital wisdom for living out our faith in an obscene world.

After navigating my way through the world, the Bibles were in the back corner of the store.  God’s book of truth holds the key to wisdom we so desperately need, and it was there all the time, waiting to be opened and read and obeyed. We only need to see what’s trending, check the Facebook feed, turn on the news, or open our front door to see our world buckling under the weight of sin and begging for the underpinnings of wisdom to give us strength and structure.

This month at Do Not Depart we’re taking a look at Wisdom Literature. We’ll give you Bible study tools to understand the rich resource of wisdom God has given us. Wisdom is calling out to us, and God’s blessings await those who listen. Come with us as we explore tools for unlocking Wisdom Literature.

Are you feeling the need for wisdom in your life?

Prayer never left school

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How is a christian child supposed to live out their faith at school if they can’t pray? As a teacher, daily I heard the voice  over the intercom declaring a “moment of silence,” as if someone in an office far away had the power to stop or start it. A “moment of silence,” code words for prayer, was announced to appease those who objected to banishing of prayer in public schools. But prayer never left school.

As long as children know to turn to the ever-present God who hears them from their desk, their locker, the playground, or the cafeteria, prayer cannot be crushed. Heavenward cries cannot be legislated, though some may try.  Having spent years as a public school teacher, I have watched believing children shine as lights in their school. Praying parents are still able to send their children armed with the voice of petition when they head off to a traditional classroom.

The best lesson a child ever learns in public school may be how to pray, and they won’t be guide by that far off voice declaring “the moment of silence.” They will still tune in to the trusted and loving voice of their prayerful parent.  We can help children learn to make prayer their own, to make it personal, while in a not-so-open environment.

Teach children to initiate prayer.

  • Call on God anytime.
  • Call on God anywhere.

Teach children to make prayer personal.

  • Call on God in your own heart, thoughts, and mind.
  • Call on God for your own needs, concerns, and feelings.

Feeling prayer pressure forces a child to learn how to turn their thoughts and their silent conversations to the Lord, their Lord, as they encounter trouble of their own or see others in trouble. There’s no need to wait for a moment of silence or even the freedom of home; we can teach our children to be kids who pray in a world that won’t.

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” (Ephesians 6:16-18).

Prayer depends on our commitment to communicate with our waiting God, not the setting where we do our days.

  • Start your child’s day with prayer, before they ever enter a “legislated” world.
  • Role play how to pray when they encounter a need or a prompting to talk to God.
  • Talk about how to use a “moment of silence” and what to do if/when it is announced.
  • Consider tools like keeping a small prayer notebook or card in their desk/locker.
  • A lunch box is the perfect place to insert prayerful words of encouragement.
  • Pray together about the concerns of the traditional school world.

Don’t wait for the designated moment of silence. Begin your child’s day with prayer and show them that prayer goes anywhere the people of God go.

Reminding myself of the dangers of “busy”

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“Half way through” has a way of making me stop and think. July 4th has a way of making me stop and consider how I’m using my summer, since it’s “half way through.” Our daughter is off to college in one month; we’ll have one son at home. As far as launching kids go, you might say we are “half way through.” It’s healthy to stop in the middle to look back on where we’ve been, how we’re doing, and where we’re going from here. This month at Do Not Depart, we’re considering the fruit our lives bear, but we’re also sharing some of our favorite posts from the first half of the year. When I started looking back at my posts, I landed all the way back in January.  God used my own words to remind me of the danger of being too busy to do the most important things.

“There’s one more thing,” the plumber said, “Do you know where your main water cut off is?” Indicted by his simple question, I wondered how I could have ignored something so basic, especially when we’ve had a major “water episode.”

“What would you do if you needed to turn off your water?” He asked.

“Call you? Call my husband? Call my neighbor?” I smiled. He wasn’t charmed.

“I’m going to show you where your water source is. You don’t want to wait until you need it to find out where it is.”

If you haven’t cultivated prayer’s knee-worn path before a flood rushes in, now is a good time to begin. We don’t want to wait until we need it to find out where it is. Theologian Armin Gesswein said, “God’s throne is the busiest place in all the universe because everything centers there. Yet, the lack of prayer on earth keeps it from operating at full capacity.” Most of us say we’re too busy to pray. I was once too busy to find the water source in our house, and I paid a high price. Read the rest …


“I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (Ps. 116:1-2).

We’re just half way through the year. It’s a great time to take a step on the knee-worn prayer path. Check out our tools like Prayer Calendars or A Prayer Album for Women on the Go.

A RECAP of Tools for Truth While You Travel

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Thanks for coming on vacation with us this month at Do Not Depart! We’ve had a rich month of sharing practical, often printable, tools to help you weave God’s word into your travel plans. We pray these tools and ideas have nurtured the holy habits in your life’s journey. Here’s a recap of the road we’ve traveled together.

Tools for Truth While You Travel

  1. The heart behind our team sharing Bible study tools for vacation & travel season
  2. 6 Tips for keeping your quiet time on track in the Simple Summer
  3. 7 Days of devotions for your family vacation
  4. Memory verses for trips, with a printable
  5. A printable Family Vacation Faith Journal
  6. Fitness and Faith:  Keeping on Track While You Travel – 7 tips that work for fitness and travel!
  7. Traveling truths: Bible verses for safety and travel in printable memory cards for your next trip
  8. Tips for packing scripture by Losing the Weight When You Travel

Like any great vacation, this month has been refreshing and inspiring, taking us to beautiful places. We’ve also savored words from the heart of a traveling shepherd in Psalm 23 in our Memory Verse Classics, and we’re reflecting on the richness of God’s plans for our life’s journey in Jeremiah 29:11.

Our team prays that this month has been a help to you as we aim to abide in the Word together!

Have you enjoyed a vacation or time of travel this summer? How did you experience God’s truth in your journey?

 

Family Vacation Faith Journal

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You have such good intentions, but then you get swamped by the list of things to do to get ready to go:  stop the mail, give the neighbor the key, set your vacation email response, take out the trash, turn off the water, pack the Epi-pen, get sunscreen, print off the reservation … And so by the time you get in the car, you’re just so glad to be driving away from it all. You can’t wait to get out of cell phone range so you can really relax.

You wanted to memorize together, do a devotion together, and simply pray together, but maybe you need to invite a member of the Do Not Depart team to go with you on vacation for that!  (We would LOVE to!  We pack light and don’t take up much room! Just contact us through our FB page :) ) What you need is a journal to guide you on the journey.

This month we’ve given you some golden practical printable tools to use when you travel.  If you use them, you will be BLESSED to make the truth a sweet part of your vacation experience. That, we can guarantee, even if you don’t invite us to go with you!

But today I want to give you a 10-page journal to guide your journey. Family Vacation Faith JournalHere are some ways to use it.

5 Way to Use the Family Vacation Faith Journal

  1. Take a look at the pages together before you even start to pack.
  2. Take it into a restaurant with you to use, instead of those coloring pages.
  3. Take a clipboard and let the “back seat dwellers” use it as you travel.
  4. Take a few minutes over breakfast each day of your trip to do a page.
  5. Take it “on location” for when you need 5 sitting down min. at the beach/park/camp.

 

You can print out your copy right now, or print out a copy for each family member, but make the  Family Vacation Faith Journal a part of your next family journey. Single or without kids? No matter … we can all use a Faith Journal in our travel bag. You will be blessed, even if the journal helps you focus on a solo trek. Use your other printable tools to go with your journaling times.

Remember, “Vacations are not only times for adventure, rest, and relationship. Vacations are also opportunities for a fresh infusion of truth into our tired lives.”

Bible study tools for vacation & travel season

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When temperatures rise, class schedules end, and daylight hours linger, most of us take time off from routines and work.  Vacations call us to places of rest or adventure. The open road invites us to sigh deeply and hit our inner reset button.

Bible Study Tools for Truth While You TRAVEL Holy habitsIf we’re honest, it can take a lot of work to get to those places of rest, but it’s worth it. Just one day of digging our feet in the sand, smelling crisp mountain air, or hearing unfettered laughter from those we love is enough to motivate us to do what it takes to go on vacation. After searching for the best deal for our budget, reserving our lodging, buying tickets or checking tires, making arrangements for the cat, stopping the mail, buying sunscreen, and more, we still hope and pray we haven’t forgotten anything. We might leave out what matters most.

If weighing luggage is part of your preparations, you carefully decide what goes and what stays. If children are part of your plans, you pack every crevice of a mini-van with tricks for every potential over the miles, and then you drive all night. With so much to think about to make a vacation all we dream it can be, all we pray it will be … it’s not hard to see why we might forget something that’s part of our routine lives, but still needs to be part of our time away. How can we keep up holy habits when we’re on the road and away from home?

Vacations are not only times for adventure, rest, and relationship. Vacations are also opportunities for a fresh infusion of truth into our tired lives.

While we probably don’t have room to take our study Bibles, prayer notebooks, concordances, and prayer partners, there’s an alternative to just leaving truth out of our time away. This month we invite you to open up your beach bag or backpack and pack some tools designed to help you make the truth a fresh and functional part of your travel plans. We’ll share some ideas for individuals and even for family. After all, Jesus beckons us to get away from our burdens and find rest … in Him.

 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” ~ Matthew 11:28

The Do Not Depart team looks forward to taking a deep breath, closing our eyes, and enjoying a rest from work and routines. It’s not only a great chance to catch up on sleep, read good books, eat seafood, try a paddle board, sleep on the beach (Can you tell we really want to go on vacation?), or play games late into the night. It’s also a sweet time to quench our thirst with the Living Water and enjoy Him apart from the usual things of our days.

Will you join us? It’s time to get away for a little vacation together!

Click to tweet this post and share about the June theme at Do Not Depart.

Truth for kids to tunes we know

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Never has it been so hard to compete with the rhythms of our world for space in the hearts and minds of our children. If adults today do not intentionally claim ground in the mental files of our next generation, modern culture will sweep in and take it.

Let The Children Come - DoNotDepart.com We must not wait for reading skills to emerge or for writing to reach journaling capacity, for vocabulary to include words like “discipleship” and “justification.”  While the sprout is still tender and the roots are just reaching out to take hold in the soil, the time is ripe to embed truth in the heart of a small child.  Truth creates a fertile environment for God to work in the mind and spirit, for understanding to grow, and for belief to mature into faith. While the ground of the young heart is soft, we have the chance to share the oral history of God’s written truth. To act in the earliest windows of childhood to prepare the next generation to abide, we must sing songs of faith.

By putting God’s word & stories to childhood tunes, we stir up benefits like:

  1. nurturing faith vocabulary to prepare children to be comfortable talking about truth
  2. embedding rhythmic, rhyming language in young memories, along with stories
  3. associating stories of God’s word with comfort and bonding with trusted adults
  4. placing mental “hooks” in the framework of a child’s thoughts for building later learning
  5. linking God’s word to what a child learns are the sounds and sense of joy

While excellent children’s faith music exists, we can use familiar, traditional songs like nursery rhymes and childhood tunes to sing original lyrics in our homes, in our Sunday Schools, and in our ministries. Need to help a child remember God’s truth? Follow these simple steps and check out the samples below.

Choose a simple, short, rhyming song children know.

  1. Take a story, character or passage and identify key truths to remember.
  2. You can get creative with the rhyming, but not with the truth! Be accurate.
  3. Use varied color and/or symbols to reinforce the lyrics visually.
  4. Design a display card or coloring sheet for a child to use as they grow.

“I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 89:1

Some of my favorite tunes for creating Bible songs:

  1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
  2. Row Row Row Your Boat
  3. Happy Birthday to You
  4. London Bridges Falling Down

Example:  (Using Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)  Start humming before you read!

Adam and Eve

God made us to be His friends. Then the first 2 people sinned.

Since He loved us He would give a HERO so that we could live.

Eve and Adam could not be heroes that would set us free.

Noah

Noah was a faithful man, built an ark with his 2 hands.

People laughed, but he obeyed, and safe inside his family  prayed.

Noah and his sons and wife knew that God has saved their life.

Abraham

Two old people had no son, though they hoped and prayed for one.

God said Abraham would be father of a family.

God keeps promises the same. 9 months later Isaac came.

Joseph

Jealous family, angry vote. Hated brother’s special coat.

Joseph was sold as a slave, his brothers’ sin he then forgave.

Though he went to Egypt’s test, God was working for his best.

Let’s use our mouths to make God’s faithfulness known through songs for all generations!

Let’s sing the stories of God’s acts and truths so our children will hide them in their hearts in the midst of the messages of our times!

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