"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." (Ps 19:14) –That's my prayer as I go through life making LaneWaves–
We are hearing a lot about change these days. Some change we like, some we don’t like, and in the case of my 401k, my missing change. At any rate, I was reading today in Joshua chapter 5 and came to verses 10-12:
10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. (ESV)
Did you catch that about the manna? Here one day, gone the next. Bam. Just like that. Now I don’t pretend to know what manna really was. I mean, the Israelites went around the dessert for 40 years calling it “What is it?” so they were probably very ready for a change.
In that passage, that is all there is about the transition from manna to no manna. Maybe some grumbled and complained though the text is silent about it. There were plenty of other times that the grumbling was recorded so that leads me to think the people were okay with it. God joined the Passover and the removal of the manna with the preparing to go to battle with Jericho. Hmmm…
So it got me thinking. So many of us hate change. I know I have at times. Yet there are other times when the process is easy and we can rest in the blessings of that change. That’s what seems to be happening in this passage. This time the Israelites took the change in stride and didn’t complain. Sure it was for the better (from a 21st century perspective at least). But the nation had a history of complaining against the big Mo and there were plenty of times when Moses had to go to God and plead for mercy on the people’s behalf. So I’m thinking that they got this one right.
Makes me wonder if I will grumble the next time God changes things in my life and that if I take it in stride, maybe he has some really big things to accomplish with me.
Okay so I’m going to open a can of worms here. I really, REALLY can’t stand chick flicks. I think they are the spawn of Satan. No really. I can count on one hand how many chick flicks I have watched in the last 5 years. Admittedly we don’t go to the movies much and neither do we rent very often. However when we do either, watching a chick flick is not even considered. For me, watching them is like tin foil on a filling. Yeah it’s that painful. Give me action, mystery and adventure any day.
So why do I hate them so much? Well it’s simply a matter of garbage in, garbage out.
<rant>
As a Christian, there is very little in a chick flick that I should take home and emulate. The way relationships begin? Nope. The way to handle conflict? No way. The way to respect each other? Please. Being a one woman/man person? Laughable. If you are a Christian, the way chick flicks give you advice is pure appetite for destruction.
So you think they are harmless and don’t have that much of an impact? I beg to differ. I think most Christians grossly underestimate the amount of influence media has on them. I heard that recently and whole heartily agree. When you get in a rough spot in a relationship, as a Christian you should respond in a Christ-like manner. Unfortunately, most Christians respond the same way everyone else does. No difference, nothing distinguishable. Why? We have been so heavily influenced by what we put in our brains that our hearts have been shaped and then warped. What goes in does come out if it is socially acceptable and unfortunately, treating spouses like junk, lying, cheating, addictions to pornography and other self indulging behaviors are all socially acceptable. Makes me want to puke. Why do Christians think they will have different results in their relationships when they follow the same formulas that produce brokenness in so many?
You may disagree with this rant but I bet it makes you think.
</end rant>
All right, enough preaching. I have a confession to make. I went and saw a chick flick on Friday. Yep. Totally did. Did I like it? Well…I had heard from a few people that this movie was good but I really wasn’t sure. You see, it is a Christian film and I am usually not a huge fan of Christian films. Have you seen some of them? They really suck. This one was different though. Fireproof is the name. I liked it. Yes I am man enough to admit that. It was high quality (only $500,000 budget though) and the content was very solid. I never thought I would endorse a chick flick but here I am doing just that. I’m leery of Christian fads but this movie is worth seeing. Take your spouse/significant other to it. Take someone who is struggling in their marriage to it. It could really help reverse some of all the other despicable junk that people have downloaded into their brains.
Oh man I am stoked. So I’m at this conference for the next few days and am really looking forward to a time of spiritual renewal. Tonight the band led us in incredible worship and then rocked us a little bit too. I loved it all.
After James challenged us from the Word and led us into some incredible prayer time, we had a chance to go out and visit the conference sponsors.
I of course went straight for the Crossway Table. I was REALLY hoping to get a sneak peak at the new ESV Study Bible. I wasn’t disappointed.
My first impression? It’s big. Really big. But that’s what I expected so it wasn’t really a surprise.
I thumbed through it and I LOVE IT!! The pages seemed nice and thick, the single column-paragraph format is great and the notes, maps….Lets just say I WANT ONE. NOW. The worse part about seeing it tonight is that they are not selling any. Bah.
Oh well. Hurry up and wait just like everyone else.
How many times have you studied the Bible and it didn’t stick with you for more than a day or worse a few hours or even a few minutes? So let’s be honest. If you have a daily quiet time all year, do you remember all 365 (366 days this year) quiet times? Of course not. Nobody does. But do you remember any? Do any of them stick?
I love that picture. Yes that is a wall of gum. Pretty cool huh? So how do you get gum to stick to a wall? Will it stick if you just throw the pack up against the wall? While entertaining, I think all you will get is someone calling you stupid. So how can it happen? A dumb exercise maybe, but hear me out.
Steps to get gum stick to a wall:
1. Open up the package
2. Take a piece out
3. Remove the wrapper
4. Place in mouth
5. Chew until soft and squishy, not until it is stale and hard.
6. Push onto wall. Work it into the wall. Make sure it sticks
There you go. Six simple steps to make gum stick to a wall. Aren’t you glad you know that now?
Okay so the point to all of that is that it usually takes some WORK to make scripture stick with you. I’m not saying that you can’t read a passage once and have it hit you like a ton of bricks. What I am saying is that does NOT happen every time you have your quite time.
So how do you make it stick? I’m glad you asked. Here is my take:
Use the Inductive method. A really quick review: Think passages or chunks instead of individual verses. Take a chapter or a section of a chapter and dig into it. Read it. Read it again. Read it until it makes sense. Then do really good observation on it. Find out what it SAYS!! Try not to miss anything. Look words or ideas up in Bible dictionaries if need be but skip the commentaries. Remember this is a study between you and God’s Word with the Holy Spirit guiding you (you did ask him to guide you didn’t you?) and not comments from someone else. Use them later if you really want to. Read the text again. Are you getting what it says? If so, then move on to the interpretation step and show what the meaning of the text is from your observations. Finally move on to the application step. The application step is easy at this point. Remember, your application MUST be in line with your main theme. Don’t ditch the method at the end. That’s it! It takes just a little bit of effort and it will stick. Oh, and 5 minutes in the morning or night does not make it stick.
Okay, someone might ask, I need to do that every time I have a quiet time?!?!??! My answer to that is, YES. I would also say that for me, studying scripture is much like a cow chews cud. I am not usually ready to move on to the next text until I have worked with the one I have for a while. I need time for it to sink in. To get more out of it. To allow the Holy Spirit to imprint it upon my heart. So what is the right pace? Ahhh…you will have to find that on your own. My only caution is that many people are too much in a hurry when they study and so it never sticks. Slow down until your quiet times start sticking. Don’t mull on one so long that it gets stale and stiff…it might not stick then. Go at the right pace for you and follow God’s leading. Make it stick.
When you realize it’s never too late to right a wrong and never too late to right a wrong decision, you escape your past & set a new course. 2 weeks ago
my missing change. At any rate, I was reading today in Joshua chapter 5 and came to verses 10-12:
the process is easy and we can rest in the blessings of that change. That’s what seems to be happening in this passage. This time the Israelites took the change in stride and didn’t complain. Sure it was for the better (from a 21st century perspective at least). But the nation had a history of complaining against the big Mo and there were plenty of times when Moses had to go to God and plead for mercy on the people’s behalf. So I’m thinking that they got this one right.
and thick, the single column-paragraph format is great and 
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