Blog - Do Not Depart

What God Has Been Doing for Us through Psalm 121

February 27, 2017 by Lisa Burgess 1 Comment

Why do we memorize scripture?

It’s not to check a box.
It’s not to earn God’s favor.
It’s not to impress our friends.

We memorize scripture to be transformed by the Living Word through the Spirit of God.

Our official time in Psalm 121 is over. But our hearts are lingering in its comforting promises from the Lord.

How did God use it in our lives?

Very specifically and individually.

Listen to others share what God has been doing through this psalm during our six weeks together:

Waiting on my teenager to have tests run, heart fighting fear, I closed my eyes and recited Psalm 121. Truth has rescued me from fear and lies.
Psalm 121 has been my go-to in a crazy season I’m in.
I’ve recited Psalm 121 to believe God’s promises not just for myself, but for my adult child who is battling tough times at her job.
Psalm 121 is a GREAT COMFORT. I know I am being watched over.
I’ve shared the Psalm with my granddaughter, the only one speaking words of hope to her. My faith is strengthened as I meditate on the Lord’s protection and presence.

We will continue reviewing Psalm 121 for several more weeks in our Hide His Word Facebook group. We invite you to join us there.

Stay tuned for our next memory challenge to be announced in mid-April!

Check out more Bible memory resources here.

How has God used His truths to help you during challenging times? Please share in the comments.

When Children Doubt

February 22, 2017 by Patti Brown Leave a Comment

It usually starts around age three: questions.

Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to wear a shirt? Why can’t we have cookies for dinner?

As parents we get used to fielding lots and lots of questions.

But sometimes there are questions that are hard to answer. Questions that make us uncomfortable.

Why is there evil in the world? Why can’t I see God? Why do people die?

As Christians we have answers to these questions, but they are simultaneously simple and incredibly difficult to comprehend.

At some point in almost everyone’s faith journey the questions will become very serious, and doubt may become a real aspect of the struggle to understand. Sometimes when this happens, parents panic and don’t know how to respond.

How can you respond to doubt in your child?

‪Acknowledge That it is Normal to Have Questions

‪I don’t want my children to have faith because I tell them to. I want them to live a life in relationship with the God of Creation. Relationships take time.

When children are small, they take whatever we say at face value. But as they get older they need to come to a personal understanding and experience of God.

‪When the father of the child possessed with demons brought his son to Jesus for healing, he obviously believed that Jesus had great power, or he wouldn’t have come. Yet even he had doubts, telling Jesus “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

The Bible is filled with stories of men and women with doubts – many of whom God used in mighty ways for His kingdom! It is normal to have questions and doubts when you are growing in faith.

Be Compassionate

Do you remember what it felt like to struggle? To be unsure of your place in the world and not certain of what you believed?

Those are hard seasons of life, so it is no surprise that God’s Word tells us to have compassion on those who doubt.

‪”And have mercy on those who doubt” Jude 1:22

It is usually fear that drives parents to quench their children’s questions. But not allowing the freedom for hard questions from your children waters the seeds of rebellion.

‪If you get frustrated, or even angry, with your child’s questions, they may choose to stop communicating. That is the last thing you want! Be compassionate and patient. Walk through the doubt with them.

Find Answers in God’s Word

There are answers, and the best place to find them is in God’s own Word.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans ‪10:17

Point your child toward Scriptures that address their specific concerns. Spend time studying the Bible yourself so you are more confident in what God says.

If you are unsure where to find answers, ask your pastor, or look up topics in an online resource such as OpenBible.info’s topical Scripture database. The Do Not Depart team is always happy to help point you toward Scriptures that address specific topics – you can ask in a blog post comment, or connect with us on Facebook.

Pray

Pray for your child. Pray with your child.

God loves your child more than you ever can. He wants to be known.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is living out our relationship with God in our daily lives. When your child sees you taking all your concerns to Him in prayer, it will make an impact.

God is Big Enough!

God is big enough to handle your child’s doubts. God is big enough to handle your worry!

He will give you the strength and wisdom to walk through hard seasons with your children, even seasons of doubt.

Helping children when they doubt. #LetTheChildrenCome

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5 Ways The Holy Spirit Empowers

February 21, 2017 by Kelli LaFram 2 Comments

“Repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

These were the words Peter boldly proclaimed as He finished his first Holy Spirit powered sermon.

Repent. Be baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.

All this month we have been attempting to answer this question: Who is the Holy Spirit? Though we finite humans could not possibly write a blog series to fully encompass a infinite God, we have selttled on a few things so far.

The Holy Spirit’s deity is equal to that of God the Father and God the Son; being all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present.

The Holy Spirit is our Helper.

The Holy Spirit bears witness to the true-truth.

The Holy Spirit also empowers us to do many miraculous things for our good and His glory. By the power of the Holy Spirit we can:

boldly proclaim the gospel;

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Jesus to His disciples before he ascended to Heaven, Acts 1:8)

pray when we do not know how;

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)

appreciate the mystery of the gospel;

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

deny our flesh and live rightly;

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:10-11)

abound in hope and be filled with joy and peace.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

I’m sure I’ve missed some, if not many, of the works that the Holy spirit empowers us to do (as I’ve said, I’m a finite human trying to write about an infinite God). But despite the short length of this list, we need to remember that these things can only be done by His power, not our own.

If you are not seeing this type of power in your life ask yourself these questions:

Have I repented of my sin?

Have I been baptized in the name of Jesus?

Have I received (taken hold of) the gift of the Holy Spirit?

If your answer is no, then simply follow the instructions that Paul gave in Acts 2:38 and patiently wait for the Holy Spirit to manifest His power in your life.

If you can honestly answer yes to these questions, then begin praying the above scriptures back to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to live courageously for His kingdom. These prayers are inline with the will of God the Father and they will be answered. While you wait for Him to respond, continue to abide in Jesus and trust that He is preparing you for the work He will empower you to do.

Let’s pray.

Father in Heaven, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to empower us to do your will. Please forgive us if we have ever attempted to do any of it by our own strength. Help us to rely on and trust in your power. Empower us to boldly proclaim the good news. Give us the power to pray as we should. Empower us to know, understand and appreciate the mystery of the gospel. Help us to deny our flesh and live rightly for you. By your power, may we abound in hope, joy and peace. In the name of your Son we pray, amen.

5 Ways The Holy Spirit Empowers #whoistheHolySpirit

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Repent. Be baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit. #whoistheHolySpirit

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The Holy Spirit also empowers us to do many miraculous things for our good and His glory. #whoistheHolySpirit

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The Lord Is in Your Daily Details {Memorizing Psalm 121:8}

February 20, 2017 by Lisa Burgess 2 Comments

While this is our last official week to memory Psalm 121 together, I pray that you will continue to dwell with God in these words for a long time to come.

This final verse is a fitting conclusion:

“The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalm 121:8 (ESV)

The Lord is with us in our daily details, our goings out and comings in. He cares about our trips to the grocery store, He goes with us to our jobs, He settles us in when we arrive home at the end of the day.

He “keeps” (guards, attends to) us with Him at all times.

May this truth settle in your soul this week, that you are never alone, that you are always kept, always loved.

For more study, read here.

Thank you for journeying with us through this Psalm. How has the Lord shown Himself to you through Psalm 121 these past 6 weeks?

Please leave a comment here or visit our Hide His Word Facebook group to continue the conversation.

The Lord is in our daily details. This week we finish memorizing #Psalm121. #HideHisWord

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See all the posts on Psalm 121 here.

Is This Fake News? I Need a Witness

February 16, 2017 by Lisa Burgess 25 Comments

is-this-fake-news_donotdepart — Is this a gigantic frozen spider web? No. It’s an ice sculpture. Story here: http://www.snopes.com/frozen-spider-web-sculpture

We sat in a circle for the second week in a row. We ladies were still getting acquainted in our new Bible study group. The ice-breaker game began: Tell two truths about yourself and one lie. See who can figure out which is which.

I said these three statements about me:

I eat two cookies almost every day.
I’m the third of ten siblings (3 girls and 7 boys).
I survived a hurricane on my honeymoon.

What Is Fake? What Is Real?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the truth from a lie. It’s always been that way (ask Adam and Eve).

But in this age of social media, internet news, and photoshopped pictures, it is increasingly hard. And for the younger crowd, the ability to distinguish fact from fiction declines even more (see this study of students who can’t distinguish true from fake news).

But fake news doesn’t come at you only about current events and politics.

Fake news also tells you lies about yourself.

You’re not good enough
You’re not smart enough
You’re not pretty enough

And fake news wants you to believe the biggest lie of all:

God could never love someone like you.

How to Disprove Fake News

But the truth is that God not only can love someone exactly like you, God does love you, exactly as you are.

How can you know that this isn’t another piece of fake news?

Find a Witness

Because God gives you a first-hand witness.

As we study the Holy Spirit this month, one aspect of the Spirit that we often overlook is His role as a witness.

A witness is someone who testifies and gives evidence. He affirms what he has seen or heard or experienced.

What has the Spirit seen and heard? That we are indeed God’s children (Romans 8:16).

And where did the Spirit learn that? From God Himself. The Spirit knows the very thoughts of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Consider Your Sources

You can also back up this truth of God’s love by fact-checking. Talk to other believers who are witnesses with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said those who walked with Him then would also bear witness (John 15:27). But you likely know many who walk with Him now. Let them also bear witness to you about His genuine love.

Count Your Personal Experience

Another way to disprove fake news is to appropriately evaluate your own experiences. As a follower of Christ, you have received the Spirit Himself to help you grasp His love (1 Corinthians 2:12). Practice an intentional awareness of His presence with you. The Spirit is an internal witness who can affirm that you are truly cherished by your Creator.

The Truth Sets You Free

When you believe the Spirit’s testimony, you will better understand that you are never alone or unloved. You always have company wherever you go. The Spirit has been given to you as a gift of God’s presence (Romans 5:5).

The Spirit’s presence also gives you peace (John 14:26-27) and ultimate freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

The Spirit is the one who testifies that you have eternal life (1 John 5:6 and 1 John 5:11).

The Spirit is truth. He is credible. You can rely on Him to be an honest witness.

Of my three statements above, do you know which two are true and which one is false?

Unfortunately, I do eat cookies (or something sweet) most every day. And thankfully, I did survive Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii at the end of my honeymoon (imagine a “romantic” four days on an island with no water, no electricity, no A/C, no clean clothes).

But I am not the third of ten siblings; I’m only the third of four. My family isn’t that large.

Or is it?

As a chosen daughter in God’s family, my siblings actually number more than the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the beach. The Spirit is my witness that I am surrounded by love.

That is true and good news!

3 Ways to Disprove Fake News. Do you need a witness? #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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How do you debunk fake news? Who has been a witness in your life of the true news of God’s love? Please share in the comments.

2 Roles of the Holy Spirit from Romans 8

February 14, 2017 by Lindsey 1 Comment

Who is the Holy Spirit, and what does the Holy Spirit do?

For some reason, we struggle to understand Him. God the Father makes sense to us. So does God the Son. At least somewhat.

Maybe we understand them better because the entire Old Testament focuses on God the Father, and the entire New Testament focuses on God the Son. Or maybe it’s because the idea of father and son fit within our realm of understanding. We each have an earthly father, so it’s not hard to imagine a heavenly one (though, for certain, many earthly fathers don’t create accurate pictures of our heavenly Father). We are also all sons or daughters so it’s not difficult to picture God the Son.

But God the Holy Spirit….He seems somewhat elusive and confusing.

The truth is, even though the Holy Spirit might not fit as neatly into our realm of understanding, there is still much we can learn about Him from the Word of God.

All this month here at Do Not Depart, we’re exploring the Holy Spirit: who He is and what He does.

Today, I want to dig into Romans 8 and let Paul explain two of His important roles.

Romans 8:26-27: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (NIV).

In this text, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit fills two important roles.

2 Roles of the Holy Spirit from Romans 8:

Helper

He helps us in our weakness.

That means we are not alone in our struggles. He, our Helper, is with us all the time.

Intercessor

He intercedes for us in accordance with the will of God.

Have you ever been completely unsure what to pray for? Maybe you knew what you wanted, but had no idea if that was the best option or within God’s will for you. Or maybe you were so broken by the circumstances of your life you weren’t even able to utter a prayer.

It is in these moments-when we don’t know how to pray-that God the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

I like to picture Him standing beside me, putting His arm around me as I attempt to put words together in prayer. He sees my feeble attempts and fills in the gaps before the Father.

The text is also clear that He intercedes in accordance with the will of God.

Many times I have prayed for something I wanted but then wondered, “Is this really what God wants for me or just what I want in my selfish flesh?”

After all, there are still many instances when my flesh rules the day.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the Holy Spirit as helper and intercessor, we can rest assured that everything we pray is being filtered through the Holy Spirit before the Father.

This list is definitely not exhaustive and Romans 8 is only one of many texts that talk about the Holy Spirit.

What is your favorite characteristic of the Holy Spirit? Share in the comments.

What does the Holy Spirit Do? Some thoughts from @DoNotDepart #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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2 Roles of the Holy Spirit from Romans 8 via @DoNotDepart #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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Your Life Is Kept {Memorizing Psalm 121:7}

February 13, 2017 by Lisa Burgess Leave a Comment

We have only two weeks left as we memorize Psalm 121. We hope your time with the Lord in this psalm, whether a little or a lot, has been meaningful.

This week let’s look closer at the verb and its object in the last half of Psalm 121:7.

“The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.”
Psalm 121:7 (ESV)

Here are four different translations:

ESV: He will keep your life.
NIV: He will watch over your life.
KJV: He shall preserve thy soul.
NKJV: He shall preserve your soul.

The verb keep (or watch or preserve) is from the Hebrew word shamar (H8104). This is its fifth use in Psalm 121 so far (it’ll be used again in Psalm 121:8). It means to keep, to hedge, guard, or protect.

The noun life (or soul) is from the Hebrew word nephesh (H5315), meaning that which breathes, vitality.

How does the Lord keep our life safe? Do dangers never befall us? No, we all have times of danger and falls. And eventually, physical death.

But at our deepest core, in the vital places of our soul, we are safe in the Lord’s care.

Regardless of what may happen in our circumstances or our bodies, the life of our spirit is protected because the Lord says so.

For more study, read here. “If the soul is kept, all is kept.”

What does “keeping your life” mean to you? Please leave a comment here or visit our Hide His Word Facebook group to continue the conversation.

He keeps your life. Memorize #Psalm121 v7 this week. #HideHisWord

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The Deity of the Holy Spirit

February 9, 2017 by Ali Shaw Leave a Comment

The trinity of God is a beautiful yet difficult concept. Actually, it may be better to say that the concept is beautifully simple, though difficult to wrap our heads around.

It’s easy to say that God exists in three, distinct persons equal in attributes.

It’s a bit harder to comprehend the miracle of all of that.

The Spirit as One Person of Our Triune God

The study of the Holy Spirit is sometimes neglected in modern Christianity. Perhaps because His work often happens hidden within hearts or maybe because He didn’t walk the earth in human form, the Spirit sometimes takes a backseat to God the Father and Jesus Christ (God the Son).

I love how the lyrics to Martin Luther’s hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy remind us that God exists in a triune manner:

Holy, holy, holy
Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning my song shall rise to thee
Holy, holy, holy
Merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity…

The Deity of the Holy Spirit - Who is He? Read about His Deity, attributes, and actions at DoNotDepart.com

God in three persons. Yes – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

And while the word “trinity” is not found in Scripture, the principles and concepts of the trinity are.

In Acts 16:7, the Holy Spirit is told to be the Spirit of Jesus:

And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. (Acts 16:7)

And in the latter part of 1 Cor 6:11, the Holy Spirit is said to be the Spirit of God:

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor 6:11)

John 14:16-17 tells us that Jesus would ask the Father to send another Helper (the Holy Spirit) to live in us. While this passage points more toward the concept of the indwelling of the Spirit, it also points to the deity of the Spirit. The word another used in verse 16 is the Greek word allos which means “another of the same kind; another of a similar type.” (HELPS word studies.)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)

Another set of passages that clearly show that the Holy Spirit of the New Testament is the very same God of the Old Testament is Isa 6:8-9 and Acts 28:25-26. These passages are almost identical. In Acts, Paul is referencing the passage in Isaiah but specifically attributes the voice that inspired Isaiah as the voice of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah simply refers to this voice as the “voice of the Lord.”

…they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet…” (Acts 28:25)

The same voice, the same God.

Attributes and Actions

Since all three persons are God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit contain the same attributes.

“While the three members of the Trinity are distinct, this does not mean that any is inferior to the other. Instead, they are all identical in attributes. They are equal in power, love, mercy, justice, holiness, knowledge, and all other qualities.” Matt Perman, What is the Doctrine of the Trinity.

So we’ve established that the Holy Spirit has the same attributes of the Father and the Son. But what are those attributes?

We’ll delve further into some of the those attributes and actions later this month. I don’t want to spoil anything, but no discussion of of the Deity of the Holy Spirit would be complete without at least touching on these topics.

A basic study of theology would reveal the “three omni’s” of God.

God is:

Omnipotent – all-powerful
Omniscient – all-knowing
Omnipresent – everywhere at the same time

And because the Holy Spirit is God, He also has each of those attributes. The Spirit is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at the same time.

Of the Spirit, Charles Ryrie says, “…He also possesses attributes which only God has which shows, therefore, that He is Deity.” (Basic Theology, emphasis mine.)

Later this month we’ll discuss several of the works of the Spirit. Again, I don’t want to cover topics here that my teammates will write about, but I’ll touch on one miraculous work of God that personally floors me and is specifically attributed to the Holy Spirit.

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” Luke 1:35

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18

Let those verses sink in deep. It’s absolutely amazing, isn’t it? The Holy Spirit (God) came to the young virgin, Mary, and impregnated her with the Son (God), whose Father was God.

Awe and wonder bubble up in my heart to think that this could even be possible. And not only was it possible for our omnipotent God, He did it all because He loves us enough to pursue us at the greatest cost! It is truly incredible.

Again, the concept of the trinity is simple, but difficult to wrap our minds around.

One thing that’s not so difficult though, is to understand the Deity of the Holy Spirit.

Ali

The Deity of the Holy Spirit explained @DoNotDepart #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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The Spirit: all-powerful, all knowing, everywhere at the same time. #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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Who Is the Holy Spirit?

February 7, 2017 by Ali Shaw 1 Comment

The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit using many descriptive terms. He came to the apostles with the sound of a mighty windstorm in Acts 2:2. Jesus taught us in John 7:37-39 that the Holy Spirit is like water – and that Believers will have His rivers of living water flowing in us. Occasionally He’s compared to fire, like in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 24:32. And when the Spirit descended on Jesus, Luke 3:22 says He was in a form like a dove.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… (Acts 2:1-4 a)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)

So the Spirit was promised and given. But, exactly who is this Holy Spirit?

The easy answer is that the Holy Spirit is one person of our triune God. As we see from the verses above, He was sent to all Christians on the day of Pentecost to dwell within the hearts of any who believe in Jesus as their Savior. (See also Acts 2:38-39 and Romans 8:9.)

But this month, we’ll look further into the person of the Holy Spirit and even examine some of His works. Though this series won’t be exhaustive, we want you to walk away knowing more about who the Bible says the Holy Spirit is and understanding what He’s done throughout the Word of God.

We are so blessed to serve a God that comes to make His abode in the hearts of His children!

New month long series @DoNotDepart #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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The person and works of the Spirit @DoNotDepart #WhoIsTheHolySpirit

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