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Encouragement and Tools to Abide in God's Word

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Why Bother?

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Spiritual Disciplines: Soul Training themeOur culture has trained us to expect instant gratification and overwhelming results for minimal effort. Fast food. High speed internet. Movies on demand. “The Easy Button.” We can even “Jump-start” our weight loss. We aren’t used to waiting. We aren’t conditioned for hard work and long-term investment.

So why bother practicing the spiritual disciplines? The disciplines require long-term commitment and hard work – things unfamiliar to us. What in the world would be worth the time, discipline, and self-denial?

Why bother with spiritual disciplines?

Throughout January, here at Do Not Depart, we will be exploring the why of spiritual disciplines. We’ve been told we should, but discussing the why will encourage us to follow Christ in obedience. Today, we’ll look at the disciplines in general. As the month progresses, watch for the why of specific disciplines like prayer, Bible intake, service, and more!

Fulfilling our God-ordained purpose is the overarching reason for practicing the spiritual disciplines. Before God even saved us, He determined that we should be conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:28-30). That is God’s ultimate goal for us – to be like Jesus. He wants to refine us, shape our character, mold us like clay in His divine hands.

Only God can cause this spiritual growth and transformation, but He chooses to work through our obedient cooperation. Paul told Timothy to “train yourself to be godly” (1 Tim 4:7) and commanded the Romans to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). The author of Hebrews warns us to “make every effort… to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).

Personal Benefits of Discipline

In addition to Christ-likeness, genuine pursuit of the spiritual disciplines yields other personal and exciting benefits:

  1. Spiritual depth – Our culture today teaches us to be superficial. Even Christians today lean toward shallowness. The spiritual disciplines take us beyond ourselves and the selfishness of our lives and plunge us into spiritual depths previously unknown.
  2. Freedom – Scripture tells us that when we die to self, we also die to the sin that enslaves. Obeying God through commitment to the Disciplines liberates us from the weight of “self” and frees us to serve Him.
  3. Intimacy with God – Through the disciplines we can experience and know God in ways and at levels not otherwise possible. They are the means of relating to God. Like Moses on the Mountain, we will be positioned to meet with God face-to-face.
  4. Joy – We will sense God’s pleasure with our obedience. We will live in the glow of His presence. We will find fulfillment in God’s purpose for us.

Are you ready? The beginning of a new year is a great time to make a new commitment to fulfilling God’s purpose for you!

Has your attitude about spiritual disciplines changed? Share your experience with us today.

 

Free Resources for Memorizing Psalm 71

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Will you be memorizing Psalm 71 with us?

Please use these free resources to help you. They are for ESV, but use your favorite version to memorize. If you create resources in other versions that you can share, please link in the comments below or add them on our Facebook page.

SCHEDULE

Week 1, Jan 13-Jan 19, Psalm 71:1-2
Week 2, Jan 20-Jan 26, Psalm 71:3
Week 3, Jan 27-Feb 2, Psalm 71:4-5
Week 4, Feb 3-Feb 9, Psalm 71:6
Week 5, Feb 10-Feb 16, Psalm 71:7-8
Week 6, Feb 17-Feb 23, Psalm 71:9
Week 7, Feb 24-Mar 2, Psalm 71:10-11
Week 8, Mar 3-Mar 9, Psalm 71:12-13
Week 9, Mar 10-Mar 16, Psalm 71:14-15
Week 10, Mar 17-Mar 23, Psalm 71:16-17
Week 11, Mar 24-Mar 30, Psalm 71:18
Week 12, Mar 31-Apr 6, Psalm 71:19-20
Week 13, Apr 7-Apr 13, Psalm 71:21-22
Week 14, Apr 14-Apr 20, Psalm 71:23-24

TO PRINT

Schedule Checklist

Text Cards

Text One Page

First Letters Cards

First Letters One Page

Audio from Bible Gateway, read by Max McLean

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Facebook Hide His Word
Scripture Typer group
Twitter #HideHisWord
Link-up your blog posts (opens Wed, Jan 9)

We pray your time with God in His Word will be blessed!

My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
Psalm 71:23

Comments? Questions?

Happy New Year and Thank You!

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We’ve wrapped up 2012 and already begun a new year. Our newest Hide His Word challenge registration is underway. Next week, we’ll introduce a new topic for this month.New Year post recap from Do Not Depart plus more resources

Posts from 2012

Until then, we’d like to share with you some of our most popular posts from 2012 (and welcome our new readers!):

  1. Bible Notebook: Sermon Note Sheet for Children – A free printable to help focus children’s attention during a sermon and part our month-long tutorial on creating your own Bible Notebook.
  2. How to Make a Bible Notebook – The post that started it all. (And actually from 2011, but it inspired the set of tutorials written this year.)
  3. Top Ten Android Apps for Spiritual Growth
  4. There’s an iPhone counterpart post, too.
  5. The Run to Him study guide, which led the Run to Him series.

Posts from Around the Web

We love what so many other online communities are doing to provide faith-building encouragement. A few (of the many) spectacular reads:

Looking for some more resources? Follow Do Not Depart on Pinterest! And, we always love connecting with you on Facebook and Twitter.

Our team would also like to express a big THANK YOU! to all of our readers. You all contribute so much to this community (it wouldn’t be a community without you!), and we love growing and abiding in faith with you.

Happy New Year!

What resources did you come across this year? Please share in the comments! We love reading other great articles. Also, feel free to tell us how we can serve you this upcoming year here at Do Not Depart. 

Register – Bible Memory Challenge Psalm 71

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But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
Psalm 71:14

Start your year off in the Word! Beginning January 13, we’ll be memorizing one to two verses a week of Psalm 71, letting it sink deeply into our hearts and souls.

Will you join us? And invite others? Here’s a tweet to share:

Want to memorize Psalm 71 this year? Details at DoNotDepart: http://wp.me/p1Su7F-2f5 #HideHisWord

Return here Monday, January 7, to pick up free resources to help you memorize.

You can also join our Scripture Typer group and our Facebook group for extra practice and encouragement.

We’ll resume our monthly link-up on Wednesday, January 9, for your blog posts on memorizing scripture. We love reading what you have to say!

Comments or questions? Please leave below.

 

For to Us a Child is Born…

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May you know the depth of His love for you this Christmas…

Isaiah 9:6 - Do Not Depart

… and every day.

Merry Christmas from the Do Not Depart team –

Caroline, Julie, Kathy, Katie, Lisa, Patti, Sandra and Teri Lynne.

Time to wrap up

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This December we celebrated the beauty of the season with the word of God and the Word himself spread throughout our days.

With just days left before Christmas, we want to offer you this platter full of inspiration one more time.  As you plan your Christmas Eve and day, perhaps one of these posts will add to your joy. We hope this has helped you savor God Himself during this season of peace on earth and good will to men. It’s not too late to find one way to add the word to your merry making.

We pray that the word will be found in all of your Christmas season!

Sharing the Word Through Service

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I love words, and words carry power.

But action itself speaks, meets needs, and shares God’s love (and, yes, His Word in action) in affective ways.

With less than a week until Christmas, we might be tempted to say, “I didn’t serve as much or as well as I wanted this season. And now it’s too late.”Sharing the Word through Service - Ideas from Do Not Depart

It’s not too late! Below are several ideas you can implement this week to share God’s love and His word through serving others. Build these activities into family time, and worship through serving others with His heart.

Sharing the Word with Action

Here are a few ways we can serve people now and share God’s love through action:

  • One of our team writers, Teri Lynne, shares 10 Ways to Help in Your Community on her personal blog. These ideas require little planning and most can be implemented in an afternoon.
  • Grab a few friends and/or family members and go caroling in a neighborhood. When you carol, choose songs spreading the joy of the season. Sing one or two, wish the neighbors a “Merry Christmas,” and then move on to the next house! It’s a non-pushy, fun way to spread word of His birth.
  • Set up Christmas lights between two trees or in your yard simply forming the word “peace,” “joy,” or “love.”
  • Prioritize your emphasis on the season and intentionally renew your focus on Him daily, inwardly and as an outward example. Christmas is not about a certain number of gifts or how busy we can be, but is about celebrating His birth, presences, and grace. (Verses that help me when I begin to feel stressed: Luke 2:10, Luke 10:41-42, and Ephesians 2:8-9.)
  • Make homemade gifts with your kids with the Word included, like these chalk pastel paintings, this “Joy” word sign, this Christmas carol plaque, or this verse-a-day gift.
  • Lead a group of (willing) neighborhood kids or a church preschool class in nativity-focused games and activities, like this Find and Fill Nativity Lesson.
  • If it’s cold enough if your area, make a few of these beautiful ice ornaments and include wooden letters spelling out “joy” or “peace.”
  • Stick these tags on your gifts and give away the bookmarks!
  • Donate to worth-while and Christ-focused causes.

A few ideas you can jump in on now and save for next year:

“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

 

How are you and your family sharing God’s Word through service this season (and throughout the year)? What’s one way you include His Word in your gifts or actions? Share in the comments below.

Christmas Gifts of Compassion

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If you’re like me, you aren’t done with your Christmas shopping either. In light of the tragic events of this last week, though, my spirit groans against the thought of bustling through a mall or settling for items with little meaning.

Weeks ago, our Do Not Depart team planned that we would share ideas for “last minute” Gifts of Compassion today, but it seems divinely timed. Maybe you are at a loss for a gift to give to someone you love or to someone you appreciate, like a teacher or a local first responder. This month, we’ve been talking about how to include the Word in Christmas.

John 1:14 tells us that the Word is Jesus. His coming is the greatest expression of love, and His coming makes life and hope possible.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 1 John 4:7-9

One of the best ways to answer evil is with the sending of love; God himself set that precedent for us. Today we want to share ideas for Christmas gifts you may still easily send, gifts that express God’s love, ways to “love one another” with love from God.

In tender times only God-sized love seems enough and gifts of the Word seem fitting.

Gifts for the Persecuted ~

Voice of the Martyrs Prayer Calendar ~ This beautiful calendar serves as a prayer tool on behalf of the many people who are persecuted around the worlBe Intertwined handcraftsd because they know God and call themselves by the name of His Son:  Christian. ($4)

Be Intertwined ~ This sewing cooperative of refugee women works together to sew with primarily donated material. Many of these women have known lives of fear and violence, yet they begin to find community, safety, and faith as they create colorful crafts to help support their families. Visit their etsy shop for one of a kind, handmade items.

Globally Generous Gifts ~ Give a gift in someone’s honor:

You don’t have to fight crowds, pray for a parking spot, or run out and buy a box of truffles for someone who doesn’t need them anyway. This is the perfect time to give a globally generous gift to express peace on earth, while speaking the very love of Jesus, the Word, to those close to you.

Here are some of our favorite Globally Generous Gift Sources:

Many of these sources provide similar opportunities and offer many more ideas than we can list here.

Do you have a favorite compassionate gift to add to our list or resources? Please share in the comments if you do.

Gifts to Keep Your Kids in the Word

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And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. – Deuteronomy 6:6-7

As parents, sometimes we need a little help teaching our children Scripture. Thankfully, there are resources now that are biblically based and fun! Here are a few of our favorite resources to add to your Christmas shopping list:

  • The Jesus Storybook Bible from Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago is our favorite story Bible. The stories are rich and the illustrations are beautiful. We love this Bible so much, we bought copies for family members and for the preschool classes at our church. (Available at bookstores like LifeWay, and on Amazon.)
  • Seeds Family Worship music sets Scripture to song. We have fun singing, dancing, and memorizing God’s promises all at the same time. More good news? When your order a Seeds CD, you actually get two! They want you to give away one copy to continue to spread the Word. (Available on their website and Amazon.)
  • What’s in the Bible DVDs are a new favorite around here. Phil Vischer (of Veggie Tales fame) has created this new line of DVDs that explore each book of the Bible. So far there’s nine DVDs, Genesis through the prophets, plus a couple extra Christmas-focused videos. They are funny and educational. (Available on their website, at bookstores like LifeWay, and Amazon.)

I’m so thankful for companies who help us follow the instructions in Deuteronomy to teach our children His truths. What are your favorite biblically-based products for kids?

 

*affiliate links present*

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