Category Archives: Resources

I have read a lot of books and Bible studies that have helped me through losing a child, pregnancy complications, and bed rest. Some relate specifically to these topics and others have helped strengthen my faith.

Immediate Faith

Posted on by
1

20130227-163350.jpg

I’ve been reading Mended by Angie Smith whenever Jack falls asleep in the car. It’s perfect for a “car book” because it has short, devotional-like chapters. A few chapters about Peter, one of Jesus’s disciples, helped me see his faith that acts immediately.

Peter was a fisherman. One day Jesus walked by and said “follow me” and Peter went immediately.

When Mary Magdalene said Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, most of the disciples stood around wondering how this could be. Peter ran to the tomb immediately.

But my favorite example of Peter’s faith is walking on water. The disciples are in the boat out on the sea but Jesus had stayed behind. Now in the dark of night, Jesus comes to the boat walking on water. The disciples weren’t sure who it was, so Peter challenges in faith, “If its You, Lord, tell me to come to You on the water.” Jesus says come and Peter steps out of the boat.

He steps out of the boat –
into deep water
in the dark
out of the comfort of his boat and friends
trusting Jesus has the power to keep Peter walking on top of the sea.

And it works. Peter walks on water with Jesus! Then he looks around and gets scared. Peter sees the waves and the water. He realizes what he’s done and he gets scared. Even though Jesus had already proved Peter could walk on water.

Peter starts to sink. He calls out “Lord save me!” Immediately Jesus reaches out and grabs him.

Peter was the only disciple bold enough to believe Jesus – in the darkness, the wind, the waves, the middle of the sea – and therefore he was the only disciple to walk on water. Are you sitting in the boat with your friends, comfortable, unwilling and unwanting to boldly trust God to do the impossible?

As far as we know the other disciples weren’t punished for not walking on water. But I think they missed out on a miracle. A blessing. A gift.

Or are you walking on water but nervous about the wind and waves around you? Trust The Lord. Cry out to Him like Peter did – Lord save me – and know that He will. “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed him. ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat the wind died down. Those in the boat worshipped Him and said ‘Truly You are the Son of God.'”

The story of Jesus and Peter walking on water can be found in Matthew 14.

Only Two Roads

Posted on by
Reply

There are only two roads in life: the narrow road that leads to heaven or the wide road that leads to destruction. Which road are you on? Which road do you want to be on?

I listened to a message on the radio today by Pastor James MacDonald about Walking in the Light. I really enjoyed it. I wish I could have written down what he was saying, but I was driving. I wish I had more time to write about what he said, but I don’t today and I don’t want to forget. So take 20 minutes and listen to the message. Let me know what you think!

Go to: http://www.jamesmacdonald.com/
Click “Listen” below Today’s Broadcast

20120831-173205.jpg

What I’ve Done on Bed Rest

Posted on by
Reply

A few people have asked lately what I’ve been reading while on bed rest, so I’ve compiled a list with some descriptions.  If you’re looking for something to read or for some good sermons to listen to, check out my list.  You can also click “What I’ve Done On Bed Rest” on the top of this blog.  I’ll update it as I read more.  If you have recommendations for me, let me know.

The Snowball of Suffering

Posted on by
Reply

20120313-220106.jpg

I’ve been reading the book Stronger by Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family. Throughout the book are stories of hope, people persevering through trials and suffering. He uses the analogy of a snowball and I thought I would just share that with you.

“Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4

Consider, if you will, the snowball. Left by itself it doesn’t amount to much. It’s just a little round chunk of white frozen water. Yet place the snowball on the top of a steep hill on a snowy day, and things begin to change. If you invest some time rolling that snowball so it picks up snow and grows larger, you begin to create something big and heavy. If you invest even more time and energy (this is where perseverance comes in), you might get that ball rolling down the hill. And the longer it rolls, the faster it goes, the bigger it gets.

Now you’ve got something powerful… I believe that equation of suffering, which produces perseverance, which produces character, works in a similar fashion. Our willingness to trust and rely on the Lord in a time of trouble invites His power to work in our lives. The more we trust and depend on Him, the easier it becomes. As the Lord says, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt 11:30).

Pretty soon our perseverance enables the Lord to add character to our “snowball” – and the more we persevere, the stronger we grow. We find ourselves rolling downhill toward a godly life. It still might be a bumpy ride, but the size and momentum of our snowball just about guarantees that as long as we are pursuing God’s will for our lives, nothing will stop us.

 

Lord help us persevere in our suffering so that You can produce character and hope in our lives. May we always keep our eyes fixed on You and pursue Your will for our lives.

 

Facing Our Fears

Posted on by
2

Do you know what is commanded most often in the Bible? Is it “do not sin” or “be holy” or “do good to others”? None of those. Overwhelmingly, what is commanded most in the Bible by God, angels, or Jesus, is “Do not fear.” Don’t be afraid. Fear not! Such a simple command, yet it’s repetition throughout Scripture is probably a signal that we have a hard time obeying this one.

There isn’t a person in the world who hasn’t been fearful. I don’t mean “phobias,” like afraid of bugs or heights. We’ll leave that to the show Fear Factor. I mean the scenarios that run through your mind. What if this, what if that? All the “what ifs” – it’s like IF is an acronym for I Fear.

Can you imagine breaking free of all your fears? In order to break free, first we have to face our fears. Esther was faced with a difficult decision. She needed to approach the king in hopes he would save her people. Even though Esther was the queen, she hadn’t been summoned to see the king in a month! If she approached him and he didn’t want to see her, she would be killed. Faced with this choice, Esther said “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). If I die, I die.

Think of your greatest fear. What if it happened? Most of our fears are pretty irrational. It is unlikely they will happen. But it’s not enough to have conditional faith that God won’t let our fears happen. Let’s think through a situation. One of my fears is that my husband Jeff would die suddenly.

What if Jeff dies?
I’d be devastated.
Then what?
I’d cry a lot. I’d go through more Kleenex than you can buy at Costco. I wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the mornings.
Then what?
I’d probably read the Bible a lot because I don’t know how I’d get through it without God.
Then what?
Eventually I’d begin healing and find ways to go on with life. I’d probably end up sharing the journey with others and helping people in similar situations.

Of course I still don’t want it to happen, but when you think through it step by step it’s not that scary. If God allows what we fear to happen then He has reason and purpose in it. It takes courage to face our fears. We have a choice to take courage and surrender our fears. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have died to fear and are alive to Christ. (Romans 6)

If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior, consider it now. Jesus is the Son of God and He came to earth, lived a perfect sin-less life, and died on a cross taking the punishment for our sin. Three days later Jesus rose from the grave. He conquered sin and death once and for all, so that all who choose to believe in Him and make Him their Savior, won’t be subject to sin and death. Ask Jesus to forgive you for the sin in your life and tell Him you want to live for Him. Now when God looks at you, He doesn’t see the sin in your life, He sees the perfect blood of Jesus paying for your sin. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. You will live forever in heaven with the One who loves you so much He gave His life for you. If you’ve just made this decision, tell someone. I’d love to hear from you and help you as you begin this journey of faith.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Most of these words are my own, but the concepts come from Beth Moore’s Bible study Esther.

20120303-144719.jpg

Three Days in the Wilderness

Posted on by
2

I’ve survived three days of bed rest so far.  Most of my time I spend reading, or checking facebook.  Yesterday I was entertained by my four year old niece, sister, and mom.  Today my sister-in-law came over.  Everyone has been very helpful making my lunches, cleaning the house, finishing my organizing projects.  But it certainly is strange to be forced to lay in bed and direct others to do things that I could have done myself a few days ago.

I am so thankful to have family and friends who are willing to step in and help us. I don’t have enough words to express how appreciative we are and what a blessing it is.

I’ve been reading the book One in a Million by Priscilla Shirer.  It’s about the Israelites time in the wilderness before God took them to the promised land.  Only two people out of about two million believed God’s promises. They trusted God would do what He said and be faithful and good to them.  One of those was Caleb, and that’s why we named our first son Caleb.  So that we would be reminded to trust God’s promises and be whole-heartedly devoted to Him no matter what.

About the “wilderness” in each of our lives, Shirer says:

“You don’t have to figure out the wilderness. You don’t have to fix the wilderness. You don’t have to be able to explain to your church friends why you’re going through the wilderness. Your job as a much loved, highly treasured child of God is simply to yield to the wilderness because it’s often only in the wilderness where our runaway desires can finally be boiled down to this: ‘One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.’ (Ps 27:4)

The wilderness is God’s way of making us want the only thing that’s really worth having. The wilderness, my friend, is worth it.”

You can be sure when you’re walking through the “wilderness” that you are not walking alone, and that you’ll come out of it better than you entered if you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.