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Gather with a Common Goal {Psalm 1:5}

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What group do you like being associated with? As we memorize Psalm 1:5 this week, be grateful for your good standing in Christ.

Psalm 1-5

This Is the Group

Even though all of us are sinners, those who trust in Christ are forgiven for missing the mark. That’s the group I want to be gathered with.

This congregation is in good standing with the Judge, not because of their own righteousness, but because of Jesus Christ’s righteousness.

In this group:

  • We won’t be sentenced guilty.
  • We won’t face judgment.
  • We won’t be condemned.

Gather with the ones who have a common goal of eternal life. It’s a blessed way to live now and for forever.

Memorize This Week

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 
Psalm 1:5 (ESV)

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In this group we won’t be sentenced guilty. Memorize #Psalm1 v5 with us. #HideHisWord

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See all the Psalm 1 posts here.

The Lord of the Sabbath is Trustworthy

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The clock blinks, 4:38 AM. Too early to get up. Try to go back to sleep.

Did I pay that bill? 

I need to print off the dance calendar and make sure those rehearsal dates are clear. 

What are we having for dinner tonight? Do I need to go to the store?

Has the baby gained enough weight since his last appointment? Am I offering enough good choices so he gets all his vitamins and minerals? 

I’m pretty sure we have library books due. I need to check on that.

The thoughts whirl around until finally I realize I’m not going back to sleep. The to do list beckons. My world needs ordering.

Do you ever feel the burden of responsibility in life? Regardless of the role you play in your house, do you feel that the health, happiness, and prosperity of those you hold dear, rests in your hands?

Does your mind race with to do lists that never end or feel weighed down with worries?

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) But who has time for that?

Is Rest the Answer?

I am in the thick of building my family.  There are four kids at home – a middle schooler, two in elementary, and a toddler. They are homeschooled. They are involved in activities at church, co-op, dance, theatre, sports, and of course, friends. Before the baby was born I started dipping my toe into the workforce as a writer, teacher, director and acting coach, taking on jobs here and there as the Lord leads. Taking a rest at this point in the game feels entirely counterproductive.

The activities of life ebb and flow with the seasons, and just when I think they are slowing, things pick back up again. I see my friends, all just as busy and wrapped up in their daily lives and I wonder, as the children grow and the opportunities to serve keep coming, what does Rest actually look like? Where do we find rest in seasons of busy?

Rest is Trust

As Ali reminded us at the beginning of this series, the Lord provides for all our needs, including our need to let go of the weight of the world.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. – Psalm 127:2

I like how John Piper explains,

“Sleep is a daily reminder from God that we are not God. “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). But Israel will. For we are not God. Once a day God sends us to bed like patients with a sickness. The sickness is a chronic tendency to think we are in control and that our work is indispensable. To cure us of this disease God turns us into helpless sacks of sand once a day. How humiliating to the self-made corporate executive that he has to give up all control and become as limp as a suckling infant every day.”

Rest, it seems, is the action of trust. Taking time to rest acknowledges our dependability on God.

You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you. – Isaiah 26:3

But why Rest?

Trust is a surprisingly big ask. It’s much easier to say that we trust God than to live it out in light of all the things we do not know and have no control over. Even the daily gift of sleep is not exactly something we choose.

The Sabbath, on the other hand, is an invitation. For our own benefit the Lord offers us regular opportunity to experience Him as trustworthy.

The Sabbath invites us to experience God as Trustworthy.Click To Tweet

He can be trusted because He is

  • unchangeable (Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 102:26-27)
  • Just (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30)
  • Good (Psalm 145:9, Psalm 34:8)
  • He keeps his promises (Numbers 23:19, 2 Corinthians 1:20)

As we practice the Sabbath rest we learn firsthand that God is worth putting our trust in and on that foundation of experience we can “be still and know”  who God is.

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Less Google, More God – Take an Informational Sabbath

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Give yourself a break from having to know all the things, all the time. Take an informational Sabbath.

It’s more than just a digital detox.

Less Google, More God

The Information Age

We want to know.

Right now.

  • What will happen if we don’t get the work contract?
  • Will it wreck my phone to update to iOS 13?
  • Is it going to rain Saturday?
  • Does my granddaughter have RSV?
  • Is this relationship in God’s will?

This is the age of information. We want knowledge quickly, easily, and accurately.

The first temptation still haunts us today. We want to know everything we can know, just as Eve wanted fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6).

  • Uncertainty makes us anxious. So we don’t let up until we know more.
  • We are afraid of being in the dark. So we flick on as many lights as we can.
  • We don’t want to appear stupid. So we put in hours of research until we’re worn out.

Are we trying to be our own gods? Thank God for Google. Right?

Search Overload

We definitely need information, of course.

We have to know things to function well. God wants us to make wise choices based on rational decisions. We need Christian scientists, teachers, nurses, business owners, therapists, theologians, etc. Knowledge helps us survive. It makes our lives better.

But can our “need to know” become unhealthy?

Yes.

Any of us can become information junkies, addicted to the next hit of knowledge. We can be misled into a false sense of security when we think we know it all. We can make poor decisions when we think we’re in total control.

And most dangerous of all, we can think, “Who needs God?” when we have so many sources of knowledge.

We know we have a problem when we ask Siri more than we ask God.

Yes, we do thank God for the amazing tools He’s given us in this century. Google and other search engines are such time-savers, giving us information we need or at least pointing us in the right direction.

But it’s the quantity and dependence that can swamp us. In these times of fast news, trying to keep up with everything is like drinking from the proverbial firehose. More information is available than we can handle. It comes to us faster than we have the ability to take in.

What can God teach us when we’re already worn out from trying to learn more, more, more, all the time?

Take an Informational Sabbath

Just as God directed His people in the Old Testament to take a Sabbath rest, we can benefit from a regular Sabbath, too.

While the Jews took a weekly Sabbath from anything considered work, our Sabbath choices might look different today.

Many still choose to do no major work one day a week. Others may take a week’s fast from all social media. Or unplug periodically from all technology. (There are apps like Mute for your digital detox goals, offline vacation B&B’s, and even technology rehab facilities to help you break internet addictions.)

Because of our addiction to gathering more and more information, maybe we need an occasional informational sabbath. Not just from Google, but a break from our need-to-know in general.

When we hunger for knowledge more than we hunger for God, we need to take a step back. Being smart is good, but being sanctified is better.

  • Rest your brain so your heart can rejoice in Christ.
    I grew up in a head-oriented faith tradition, but I learned in adulthood there is great delight and value in also releasing my heart to worship Christ. Love God with more than your mind: also include your heart and soul (Matthew 22:37).
  • Periodically set down the studying so you can just sit with Jesus.
    Sometimes we need to set down even our Bibles so we can soak in Jesus more directly (John 5:39-40). Worship Him. Talk with Him. Listen to Him. Knowing about God and knowing God can be two different things. Make time for both.
  • Give knowledge some time to digest.
    Knowledge isn’t the same thing as wisdom. Just as we need time in between meals for our food to digest, let God use time to turn what you already know into wisdom, before you haul in another pile of information (Lamentations 3:25).

We can grow our faith by trusting God in sabbatical breaks.

In an informational Sabbath, we can release our desire to constantly know more and always be right. We can let go of our quest for power and our need to stay in control. We can make peace with uncertainty and our fear of the unknown.

Because, in the stillness, we can remember that God already knows what was, what is, and what it to come.

Less Google, More God

So click off Google now and again. During your Sabbath break, trust God to let you know what you need to know, when you need to know it.

God created us to stop for breaths. He doesn’t expect us to keep learning 24 hours a day. He knows we’re happier (and smarter!) when we take a Sabbath rest in Him instead of trying to do everything on our own.

We can never know enough to be good enough on our own. Our brains are finite. His is infinite. We can’t think our way into heaven.

Who we know matters more than what we know.

Keep learning, but remember that learning is not a goal in itself. Changing into the image of Christ is.

Knowledge by itself does not save us. It leads us to the One who can: Christ the living Truth (John 8:32).

Thankfully we don’t have to figure everything out. God already has. He knows it all. And we know Him.

That’s what we most need to know.

Keep learning. But you don’t have to know it all. More God, less Google. #LordoftheSabbath

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Read More:

Are you an information hoarder? What do you wish God would tell you right now? How do you make peace with not knowing? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Restless or Rooted? {Psalm 1:4}

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As we continue memorizing Psalm 1, the contrasts also continue between the blessed and the wicked.

Restless or Rooted-psalm 1-4

Last week in Psalm 1:3 we saw that the blessed are weighted, like firmly-planted trees. The opposite is pictured this week in Psalm 1:4: the wicked are cut loose and free-floating.

Being unstable and untethered from God makes for a hectic life.

James said this person is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).

Christ-followers aren’t immune from storms though. We all have times of chaos in our lives.

But the difference is we can rely on a firm foundation underneath the disorder. We are not blown away.

Again from James:

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

The blessed man in Psalm 1 is the one who can stand on solid ground instead of frantically seeking peace here and there in places that don’t satisfy.

Let’s be grateful this week for the grace to abide firmly in the vine (John 15:5).

Memorize This Week

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 
Psalm 1:4 (ESV)

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Being untethered from God makes us restless. Be rooted instead. #Psalm1 #HideHisWord

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See all the Psalm 1 posts here.

What the Sabbath Says: The God Who Provides

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What does the Sabbath say about God and how He provides for His children? This is the first post in our new series: The Lord of the Sabbath.

I love to make plans, set goals, and achieve. God wired me that way, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Over the years, though, I’ve seen that it becomes a bad thing if I try to do it all apart from Him. If I operate the way He designed me to, but under His leadership, everything is different. I learn to rely on Him and His provision rather than relying on myself, proving myself, or trying to control things as a reaction to fear.

There’s a story in the Bible that helps me remember these lessons. And even though it’s a sad story in many ways, I love the story of the Exodus and what it teaches me about how God provides.

What the Sabbath Says: The God Who Provides -- Read more about how we can trust and rest in the fact that we serve a God who provides for us. DoNotDepart.com

When God first instituted the Sabbath day, He did so to the wandering nation of Israel. After years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were led to freedom by God, under the earthly leadership of Moses. 

Because they didn’t trust God to help them take the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:26-33), God disciplined them by allowing them to wander for 40 years in the desert, until that generation had passed and a new generation would arise to enter. (Deuteronomy 1:34-35)

During the 40 years of discipline and wandering, God also showered love and care upon His rebellious children.

He provided for them.

While wandering, the Israelites often grumbled. (They were slow to learn, like me.) One of the things they complained about was food. They’d left the “luxuries” of Egypt (oh, how we often make sour lemons into sweet ones when we look back!) to wander, hungry, in a dry and dusty wilderness.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:2-3)

God’s answer was that He would provide manna and quail from heaven for His beloved, though obstinate, people. 

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” (Exodus 16:4)

“In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.'” (Exodus 16:13-15)

God Provides

What was God doing here? God wasn’t just caving to the desires of His people; He was teaching them a valuable lesson about Himself. He provides! And as His people, we (like they, then) should trust that He is faithful to do that.

“On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, ‘This is what the LORD has commanded: “Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.”‘ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, ‘Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.'” (Exodus 16:22-26)

The Lord told His covenant children to gather enough on the sixth day to last for the seventh. On the seventh day they were told not to gather anything! Enough be would be provided for the whole nation of Israel on the sixth day.

Exodus 12:37 tells us that there were over 600,000 “men on foot” (young men of fighting age) in the Exodus from Egypt. There were an estimated 2.4 million Israelites altogether.

And God provided for them all! (That’s a lot of manna and quail!)

Sabbath and God’s Provision

Through the Sabbath, God shows us that He is a God who provides. In this New Testament age, where we are no longer commanded to keep the Sabbath (though we can, Colossians 2:16), we look to God to learn from His Sabbath-giving nature. Like I mentioned in the introduction to this series, “…while ‘the salvation we have in Christ has made the old law of the Sabbath no longer needed or binding’ the Sabbath continually points to Him.”

We look to God to learn from His Sabbath-giving nature. Sabbath continually points to Him. #LordOfTheSabbath

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Though God gave the Israelites just enough each day and even gave them extra on the sixth day to last through the seventh, some of them relied on themselves, instead. 

Some gathered extra each day to carry over into the next. It bred worms and got stinky. 

“And Moses said to them, ‘Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.’ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.” (Exodus 16:19-20)

Then there were those who went out to gather on the seventh day when they weren’t supposed to. Guess what? They went and found nothing.

“On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:27-30)

Why

Why did they do this?

  • Maybe it was fear: “What if there isn’t enough?”
  • They may have been self-sufficient. “I’ve got this!”
  • Perhaps they were proving themselves to someone else. “Hey,sweetie, it’s ok. You can count on me!”
  • Or did they just became negative and stay there? “I can’t believe this! Life isn’t going the way I want. Obviously I can’t trust God!”

Maybe they had a mix of reasons or other reasons altogether. We’ll never know.

But what we can know is what our response should be to God’s provision:  trust.

He is the same God who gives a Sabbath-rest to His children’s hearts today. He is the same God who will provide what we need when we need it, even if we don’t understand— and when it doesn’t look like what we expect.

The Sabbath teaches us that God provides. Even if we don’t understand. Even when His provision doesn’t look like what we expect. #LordOfTheSabbath

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Ultimately, God provides Himself. And that, my friend, is our greatest need!

Are you seeking God’s provision? What is He teaching you through the story of the Sabbath? Share with us in the comments or in our Facebook group. 

Resting in His provision,
Ali

Lord of the Sabbath – A New Series

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Fall can be a busy time of year! Focusing on Lord of the Sabbath is a great reminder to slow down with a still spirit, rest in Him, and seek to draw near our Savior.

After a hectic summer, I was ready to slide back into a comfortable, predictable routine with my family. As you may know, I’m a homeschool mom. My youngest daughter is my only student, now that her sisters have grown and graduated. Creating structured and scheduled days for the two of us sounded so sweet during the unorganized, fun-chaos of summer!

But then reality hit. Yes, our Fall days are now structured and scheduled, but, boy, are our weeks busy! This year my middle schooler has multiple classes and activities outside the home, which means I’m doing more chauffeuring, and I’ve taken on more roles in ministry work and at church, and well… someone still has to clean the house.  

Ya feel me?

Sometimes, we ladies need to prayerfully evaluate things to see if God leads us to lighten our schedules. 

But sometimes, there isn’t much we can do. Sometimes, we’re in a busy season. And that’s that… because that’s where God has us right now. 

How do we stay faithful and sane in the middle of it, though? How does a busy women who feels “go-go-go” on the outside remain rested on the inside? 

I think the key is finding rest in the Lord of the Sabbath.

Lord of the Sabbath -- What does the Biblical Sabbath teach us about God's character? Read more at DoNotDepart.com

By focusing on Him and trusting in His character, I can find the strength to sustain me if I peacefully walk, step by step, with my Savior.  Like Peter, walking on water, if I look at the wind and the waves around me, I start to feel overwhelmed and I know I’ll sink.

But Sabbath rest is about more than finding peace during a busy season. And it’s certainly about more than my response (although my response is important). 

Quieting my soul in His presence and drawing near Him sustains me because He sustains me. Sabbath is about Him.

In Mark 2:23-28, Jesus walked through grainfields on the Sabbath day and shocked the religious leaders when He broke the “rules” and allowed His followers to pluck and eat grain. Jesus’ response was that He was greater than the rules. After all, as one person of the triune God, it was He who made and gave the Sabbath to mankind. And now He’d come to give them Himself. And while “the salvation we have in Christ has made the old law of the Sabbath no longer needed or binding” the Sabbath continually points to Him.

Throughout the Bible, not only in the New Testament, Sabbath rest points hearts to God! Sabbath reveals His character and attributes in myriad ways. Through it God shows:

  • He’s a God of provision. 
  • He loves us enough to give us good gifts. 
  • Our health is important to Him.
  • He desires our obedience. 
  • He’s a promise-keeping God. 
  • And also through the Sabbath, He shares glimpses of things to come.

We hope you’ll join us all this month as we learn more about the Sabbath and what it teaches us about God. I pray that together, we’ll seek to draw near the Lord of the Sabbath!

Resting in Him,

Ali 

Do You Need a Transplant? {Psalm 1:3}

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When your growth seems dormant and withering has become normal, maybe it’s time for a transplant.

Meditate on Psalm 1:3 with us this week.

be open to transplant_Psalm 1-3_pin

A Bigger Pot

Leaves were dropping off my fiddle leaf fig tree. We’d had it in our kitchen in the same pot for 20 years.

But I was afraid to transplant it, for fear it would die altogether. It was once Jeff’s grandparents’ plant. They had given it to us years ago, and we wanted it to stay alive, especially since the grandparents are now gone.

I finally agreed to the transplant. We bought a bigger pot. We bought the dirt. And we dug in.

Now we had to see if it would survive the repotting.

Get Your Transplant

This week’s memory verse, Psalm 1:3, is also about transplants. As believers in Christ, each one of us has received a transplant already. We were growing in one place, then Christ entered our lives and transplanted us.

The Hebrew verb shatal in Psalm 1:3 is translated as “planted.” But scholars suggest the word has a more specific meaning: “transplanted,” to remove something from an undesirable location and place it in a desirable location.

Maybe a plant. And maybe a person.

To walk straight and strong in our journey with Christ, we need nourishment, water, Sonshine. While Christ provides much of that simply through His grace, we also can proactively seek these things alongside Him by positioning ourselves to better receive them.

Through time spent in the written words, with the Living Word, with fellow believers, in service to the needy, etc., we, too, can develop deeper roots. And as we grow downward, we also grow upward.

And as Psalm 1:3 suggests, we, too, as a healthy tree, will also bear fruit.

. . . In due season. Immediate growth isn’t promised. Nor is immediate prosperity in ways we typically measure prosperity.

But we will bloom. Through our separation from the wrong things (Psalm 1:1) and through our meditation on godly things (Psalm 1:2), we will mature into blessed things (Psalm 1:3).

My fiddle leaf fig is doing well. No more leaves have dropped since the transplant. The stems seem strong and the green seems greener.

Transplanting was the best move after all.

Memorize This Week

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:3 (ESV)

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Don’t just be planted. Go for the transplant. #Psalm1 #HideHisWord

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See all the Psalm 1 posts here.

How Can You Delight in the Lord All Day and Night? {Psalm 1:2}

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What tears you down?

  • Disagreements with your partner?
  • Financial struggles?
  • Pain in your body?

Life has a way of throwing boulders in our path. It can make us cynical and angry and discouraged.

Psalm 1_2_pin

Yet the obstacles don’t have to ruin us. They may temporarily hinder us. But hurdles can’t grow larger than God’s blessings if we’re delighting in Him.

But how can we delight in the Lord when we’re bombarded by temptations and troublemakers and our own transgressions?

The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 1:2.

Spend day and night meditating on the law of the Lord, delighting in it.

Does that mean sitting in quiet time with an open Bible 24/7?

No. Even Jesus didn’t live that way.

Instead, we can delight in God’s truths by valuing what He values, walking where He walks, and loving how He loves.

We can discern these things when we spend time with Him in His recorded words and when we wake up to His continual presence with us as the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

Yes, day and night. We are always in His presence; we’re just not always aware of it.

Meditating on God’s truths isn’t just sitting in silence. It’s also speaking; imagining; studying.

  • The older we are, the more we have to meditate on, to look back on, to speak about.
  • But the younger we are, also the more we have to meditate on, to look ahead to, to imagine about.

If you’re memorizing Psalm 1 with us this fall, use this week to remind yourself that the Lord is always with you. Find delight in that knowledge. Think about it, meditate on it, live in it.

Micah said it this way:

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8

And Jesus Himself said,

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
Luke 11:27-28

May this be us . . . blessed.

Memorize This Week

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 
Psalm 1:2 (ESV)

Psalm 1-2

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How do we meditate on the law of the Lord day and night? Look at #Psalm1 v2 with us. #HideHisWord

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See all the Psalm 1 posts here.

The Whole Armor of God – Pray at All Times

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All throughout the month of September, we have been looking at the Spiritual armor, found in Ephesians 6:10-18.

This portion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reminds us that:

It is appropriate that Paul concludes his discussion of the Spiritual armor with a call to prayer.

“…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 6:18)

When we abide in Christ, when we keep in constant communication with Him (“praying at all times in the Spirit”) we are well fitted indeed, with righteousness, peace, salvation, faith, and so on. Prayer is the conversation with God that helps us remain in His presence and in His armor.

And God want us to pray not only for ourselves but also for others (supplication). Just as Roman soldiers were known for their formations that created a unified defense, we Believers are to be unified in our defense against our common enemy. Prayer for and with one another protects and strengthens us, as we walk with Christ and face an unseen enemy.

Gird yourself, dear child of God, with the gift of His protection and grace. Pray at all times in the Spirit and remember that each piece of the Spiritual armor has a beautiful meaning for your daily walk. You are deeply loved!

The Sword of the Spirit

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We are nearing the end of our tour through the parts of the spiritual armor that Paul laid out in Ephesians 6:10-18. Did you notice that everything we have discussed so far is a defensive piece of the armor? The belt, breastplate, helmet, shoes, and shield are all protective. God is our defender!

But today’s piece of armor is not defensive. The sword of the Spirit is the one offensive piece of armor that Paul discusses.

Because we know that Paul, a Roman citizen, was well aware of what soldiers in his day would be using, it’s worth taking a minute to discuss the physical weapon referred to in this passage, to help us better understand the spiritual metaphor Paul is making.

The Greek word Paul uses is μάχαιραν (machaira), and would be more accurately translated as “dagger”. This was a small, short weapon, intended for a fast jabbing action and retreat – not extended sword-fighting.

Keeping this in mind, as we look at Ephesians 6:17b, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” we can see clearly that God intends any actual facing off with the enemy to be short, and to consist simply of His word.

Jesus set the example for us when He was tempted in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). Three times Satan taunted and tempted Him, and three times Jesus responded with Scripture (all from Deuteronomy). No long conversation, no attempt to convince. He simply, and powerfully, spoke Scripture (jab!).

When I am deep in a battle, it doesn’t make sense to me that the solution could be as simple as God’s Word, but my feelings don’t get a say in reality – the truth is, God’s Word is powerful.

When I wrestle with the enemy like a war-weary swordsman, I am making a grave mistake. God is the victor; I am merely a foot soldier who has been issued protective gear and a small but effective dagger – His Scriptures. When I follow my marching orders, He provides the results, and I rest. Isn’t that amazing?

We really don’t want to be fumbling around for our dagger in the moment of need, though, do we? This is one reason why memorizing Scripture is so beneficial.

I have made it a point to memorize Scriptures related to specific areas of struggle in my life. Fear has always been a stumbling block for me, and long ago I memorized passages about fear so that when I feel anxiety rising, I can speak truth (jab!). When I get tired of serving, I can speak verses about not growing weary (jab!). When I am filled with self-doubt, I can speak verses about who I am in Christ (jab!).

God’s Word has a power that is inexplicable. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that…

“the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Knowing that His Word not only blesses and refines is, but also protects us, is comforting, and inspiring! What verses do you need to memorize so that you are ready to “jab” when the battle comes?

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