Word of God Week 1 – Day 1
by Deb Weakly
“When we understand that our lives depend on the Word of God, we are far more likely to hold onto those scriptures for dear life.”
-Julie Maegdlin
1. Start your day with God. Grab your Bible, your journal, a pen, and a chair. Ask the Lord to speak to you as you read his Word.
2. Read John 1:1-5 and write verse 4 in your journal. (For deeper study read the whole chapter)
This week, we begin our study on the Bible- God’s holy, living Word. How on earth do we cover this topic of God’s Word in just a few short paragraphs? It is vast, this one. The Creator of the universe left us a love letter, words from the One who is called “the Word,” words to spend a lifetime thinking about. Scripture says that God is a mystery—and indeed He is. Even in heaven, we will not know all there is to know about God. But in the most gracious of moves, He left us His Word, and He gave us Jesus to show us the Father, so that we may have relationship with Him- an intimate, limitless, all-consuming relationship.
God gave us His Word so that we could know and experience Him. He was and is and always will be interested first and foremost in relationship with us. And because of His desire to know us, He invites us—through His Word—to know Him, not just in our minds, but in our hearts too.
Ahhh. Isn’t this a magnificent invitation?
Those of us who choose to say yes to His offer to know God by way of knowing His Word understand that reading the Bible is not just a to-do we check off our list each day. Far from it! Reading, studying and meditating on God’s Word is the means by which we hear from God, come to understand His will in the earth, and honor Him with what is perhaps our most precious possession—our time.
Dig deep today, even if only for fifteen or twenty minutes. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes to the words you’re reading, there in God’s Word. Let His truth penetrate your defenses. Let His love illuminate your life.
3.Question to ponder: In this life, with all of our burdens and busyness, it’s so easy to let our relationship with God become stale and routine. What kind of relationship with God are you seeking? In what ways do you yearn for more of Him? Write a prayer in your journal and ask the Lord to fill these areas with His love and presence and to help you know Him more intimately.
4.Word of God Faith-Filled Ideas #1-
We all know how important it is to spend time reading God’s Word and praying. A quiet time with the Lord can be so challenging when we have children at home, but it is especially needed during these years. If you are having difficulty finding the time to read your Bible, pray and ask God to help you. Ask Him to either get you out of bed a few minutes earlier in the morning or give you some other time during the day. I personally prefer to have my quiet time in the morning because I need to have my heart in the right place before I can be a good mom. Every night before I went to bed I would ask God to wake me up early and give me an extra dose of His energy throughout the day. I can honestly say 24 years later that God has always given me extra energy or even a little nap on the days that I woke up tired and got up anyway to spend time with Him. He is faithful and will help you. I love what Isaiah 50:4 says:
“The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
Word of God – Day 2
by Deb Weakly
“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” –Charles H. Spurgeon
1. Take some time this morning to meet with your precious Savior. Spend a moment praising Jesus for who He is and for His unfailing love and care. Ask Him to speak to your heart as you read His Word.
2. Read Psalm 5:1-3 and write verse 3 in your journal. For deeper study read the complete chapter of Psalm 5.
The International Standard Version says this verse wonderfully: “LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I will pray to you, and I will watch for your answer.”
There is something to be said for praying expectantly and watching for God’s answers.
I absolutely love the study Experiencing God! Through this study, the authors taught me the importance of reading the Word of God, praying, and hearing God’s voice. I also learned how to apply what I learned to my life in real, practical ways.
I love what they say about how you know when God is speaking to you:
“Understanding spiritual truth does not lead you to an encounter with God; it is the encounter with God.”
When you read something in God’s Word that stands out to you and you find yourself pondering it- thinking about it, that is the God of the universe speaking to you! Wow! It’s not some mystery! God hears our prayers and speaks plainly through his Word. Our God is so awesome and so personal, all at the same time!
In the study, they also talk about keeping a journal of what God says to you, which is what we also encourage you to do in The Help Club for Moms. Here is what the authors say about the importance of keeping a spiritual journal:
“When the Creator of the universe tells you something in your quiet time, record it before you forget it. Then write your prayer response. I record the verse of scripture through which God speaks to me and what He has said to me about himself from that verse. I write down the prayer response I am making so I have a record of the encounter with God, what He said, and the way I responded to Him. I also write what I need to do to adjust my life to God so I can begin to experience Him relating to me this way.”
A quiet time can be relatively simple. God is real and wants to have a close relationship with you. He speaks, longing to be heard by you, and has lots to say. When you invest the time to spend with God each day, cultivating a wonderful love relationship with Him, reading His Word and praying, and daily watching for His answers, you learn to hear His voice and determine His will for each and every circumstance in your life. Most importantly, you feel His love and care. It’s a whole lot easier to know that God is real and with you if you spend time with Him regularly.
Questions to Ponder: Write the answers to each of these questions in your journal:
-If I were completely honest, do I truly feel like I hear the voice of God?
-If the answer is “no”, write a prayer in your journal asking God to teach you how to hear His voice and for the Holy Spirit’s help in understanding the Word of God.
** Please don’t feel alone if you struggle to hear the voice of God. Sometimes, it simply takes asking God to teach you, and and then spending much time praying and reading your Bible. Cultivating a deep relationship with our heavenly Father takes time, but it is the absolute best investment of your time that you will ever make.
The reason we encourage regular Bible study, prayer and journaling in the Help Club is so we can all know God better, and live a life fully dependent on Him. Keep praying and keep spending time with God. He is with you, He wants to speak to you, and He wants a close relationship with you.
3. Word of God Faith-Filled Idea #2–
It’s so beneficial to truly study God’s Word. When we take the time to ponder a verse or passage, we can go deeper in our understanding and relationship with God. Invest in a Bible that has a good commentary, such as the NIV Study Bible or the ESV Study Bible, etc. I love using commentaries. Matthew Henry is wonderful and his commentaries can be found on the internet. He lived in the 1600’s, but his words are still relevant today. It is refreshing to read a commentary that doesn’t have our modern world view. Whether we realize it or not, we are all affected by our modern world and its thinking. I love old authors because they lived in a different time, before post-modernism and everything we have today.
Here is an example from my own study and how I simply used my Bible’s commentary and gained understanding from the passage.
Today, I read Romans 13 and verse 8 stood out to me:
“ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”
Lately, God has placed the desire on my heart to truly love well the people whom He has placed in my life, so I pray about it a lot and ask God to help me. When I read this verse, it stood out to me so much that I looked it up in the commentary section of my NIV Study Bible and saw that it said:
“To love is the one debt that is never paid off. No matter how much one has loved, he is under obligation to keep on loving.”
I thought, “God is telling me that, no matter what, I need to keep loving, assuming the best and giving grace to the people He has placed in my life, especially those closest to me.”
Then I went to my journal and wrote the following entry: “Lord, help me to listen to your voice and love those around me constantly, with lots of grace and understanding. Help me to see their hearts and love them well. Help me to keep on loving and never give up- no matter what!”
Prayer is simply talking to God. He is real and wants to have a close relationship with you. He speaks, longing to be heard by you, and has plenty to say. May we all invest the daily time with our God: cultivating a wonderful love relationship with Him, reading His Word and praying, and daily watching for His answers.
Note: Next week, we are making a prayer binder. Purchase these items ahead of time so you can be ready to make it!
Supplies needed:
-½ inch binder with a clear plastic front so you can slide a piece of paper behind the plastic and customize your prayer binder.
-Translucent sheet protectors (10-20)
-Notebook paper or your favorite paper to write your prayers on that will fit in the sheet protectors.
-Decorative paper if you want to be creative, but don’t let perfectionism get in the way of finishing your prayer binder. The most important thing is that you finish. 🙂
Word of God – Day 3
by Deb Weakly
“Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.” -George Mueller
1. Find a prayer partner, someone who will pray for you and with you each week. Pray and ask God to help you choose, and if you don’t have someone who can make that comittment, simply call a different friend each week. Call your prayer partner for your 10 Minute Prayer Call today. Keep trying to connect until you are able to pray together. Prayer is powerful! Done:_______
2. It’s time to meet with your Jesus! Take the time to light a candle, get something hot to drink, and breathe deeply the love of God. Tell Jesus three things that you love about His character- (Jesus, you are so loving, faithful and oh, so kind to me) and three things for which you are thankful- ( Jesus, blessings, marriage, children, answered prayers- anything that’s on your heart).
Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you read His Word.
3. Read Hebrews 4:12-13 and write verse 12 in your journal. If you have more time, read the whole chapter.
See what truth is right before our eyes here in God’s Word? God does not hide His truth from us. He wants good things for His children, so He gives us His holy Word. It is his eternal Truth, to guide, convict, and show us what is good for our souls. God’s Word is alive, and each time we choose to meditate on God’s true, penetrating Word, we allow ourselves to be convicted of the deepest, most cavernous sin and ignorance that exists in our hearts.
Because of pride, fear, hurts, or the need for control, we are often unaware of the most deeply rooted sin in our lives. This sin is often so deep and so painful. It needs the sharpest, finest instrument, which in the hands of the Master Surgeon, will cut away all that holds us back from the Life that Jesus offers. His Word and Truth will usher us into the life that God has for us. This life, this true and rich life, is only to be had when we allow our loving Father to remove all that holds us back, forgive us, and replace it with His love and His will for our life. We can give our sin and our hearts to God. He knows us better than we could ever know ourselves and loves us infinitely more than we could ever imagine.
Our precious Savior, the lover of our souls and bearer of our sins says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest in your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29.
May we all allow the Word of God to cut away the weariness of sin from our hearts today, as we ponder his truth and allow the Master Surgeon, the everlasting Father, to forgive us our sins, heal our hearts, and bring us closer to him than ever before.
Questions to ponder- answer these questions and write them in your journal:
Is there anything the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about today? Are there any areas of your life or any sin that you are not submitting to Christ? Ask God to help you to obey him, ask for the strength to confess, seek forgiveness and turn away from any sin in your life.
Word of God Faith-Filled Idea #3- Download a recording app on your phone, or purchase an inexpensive voice recorder. Each week, we will be memorizing scripture. This week’s verse is “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 NASB.
Record this verse on your phone and play it over and over until you have it memorized. Have your children join in and give them a simple little prize when they learn it too! Children are sponges and can learn anything when they are young. We always rewarded our children when they memorized scripture and looked at the money spent on rewards as an investment in their hearts and relationships with God.