Lent is a season of opposites.

We weep so we may rejoice. We sacrifice so we may receive. We empty so we can be filled. In Hebrew the word for empty transliterates as reyqam, which means in vain, empty, idle, without affect. I must admit I have been reyqam — vainly focused on myself, idly wasting my time and talents so my life was without affect. Empty. Longing to be full.

Reyqam also means to be poured out or hungry. Does this season find you hungry for something different? Have you poured yourself out for that which does not satisfy, chasing the wind? Are you ready to be full?

Come to the cross. Give Jesus your empty heart; taste and see that the Lord is good and be full.

From empty to full.

Please scroll through the Sway below to access our Bible study content for this week.

Please comment on what you have learned in the comment section below or on our empty to full Facebook page.

Be full.

and

All rights reserved.

Copyrights 2016

Bitterness or Betterness?

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

Matthew 12:34b-35

When I was little, I was fascinated by treasure and treasure maps. I loved reading books about buried fortunes (Nancy Drew and The Quest of the Missing Map was a favorite). How exciting to follow a parchment map to the foot of a tree, and with spade in hand unearth a treasure.

Buried. Beautiful. Valuable.

X marks the spot.

Treasure is a key word in Mathew 6:35. In the original Greek it transliterates as thesauros, which means a place to collect things and the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up. Interestingly, thesaurus also means a casket. Think for a moment.

A container for good, precious things or a casket for dead, lifeless things.

In my living room I have a cedar chest, a place where I collect precious things. It holds treasures of the past. Corsages … diplomas … love letters … a wedding bouquet … baby booties … scribbly pictures … handmade Mother’s Day cards … funny little birthday presents from funny little sons.

Why do I store mementos in my cedar chest? So I can remember; so I can relive again and yet again the beautiful memories my keepsakes invoke. As I hold a treasure in my hands, it continues to move and change me, to mold my soul.

The heart is like a cedar chest—a place to collect things. We decide what to fill it with. Good things. Lovely things. Beautiful things. But, we can choose to fill the heart with bitter things, reliving them over and over, wounding ourselves afresh with every remembrance, shredding our heart and shattering our soul. Bitter memories will also continue to change and mold us.

It seems then we have a choice.

What shall we store in the heart? At times we choose bitterness. Why?

I prayed for insight and an answer came clearly to my mind. We treasure bitterness because we feel something is owed to us, something feels unfinished.

But, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” bitterness died on the cross. It was never meant to be stored in the heart to taint and poison. Give bitter memories to Jesus and trust Him to use them for good. Then, fill your heart with His life-giving Word. Hide it deep in the soil of your heart. His Word becomes buried treasure.

Precious. Beautiful. Valuable.

The Cross marks the spot.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:35

The choice is yours.

Action Points:

1. Ask God to search your heart and remove any bitterness lurking there. He promises to remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
2. Check your heart by examining your tongue. What are you saying? Are you speaking words of life into your relationships, challenges and trials or words of bitterness and death? “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
3. Pray the Word. Find scriptures that address your current challenges and pray them into your life. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” Joshua 1:8

By Mary Kane

copyright 2016

all rights reserved

 Take 5!

5 Verses, 5 Questions, 5 Minutes

Before we start our study time today, please take a minute and go before our Lord in prayer.

.

In verses 8-9, we are given several commands. Which is the hardest for you?

“You are a stubborn, opinionated woman!”

“Oh, yeah? Well, you are a hard-working, caring man and I appreciate you.”

 .

What happens as a result of returning blessing for insult (vs. 9)?

Besides speaking blessings to those who insult us, how else might we bless them?

If we want to have a better life (who doesn’t?) and see good days, what must we do (10-12)?

Is blessing for insult just a suggestion? What does verse 9 say?

Dear Father,

Thank You that because You bless us, You call us to bless others. Help us to stop basing our treatment of others on how they treat us but on how You treat us. We can bless others because we have already been blessed by You. Help us to stop and think before we speak. There is no room for insults in the mouth of a Christ follower. May the words we speak be the words You would speak.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Princes also sit and speak against me, but your servant meditates on your statutes.

Psalm 119:23

 My mind used to be a battlefield, a theater of war used expertly by the enemy to oppress, control and render me useless for the cause of Christ. Darts of the enemy used to fly unchecked, inflicting damage on my heart and soul. Jagged wounds hemorrhaged confidence and peace as I struggled to stop the flow. I was a victim of my thoughts — at the mercy of whatever drifted into my mind. One nasty comment from  a coworker or supervisor and I would embark on a three-day pity-party, complete with sleepless nights and a churning stomach.

I didn’t want to think about the harsh words echoing around the corners of my mind — I seemed to have no choice. They’d flash in HD, vivid and brutal, as I relived the hurt with each replay.  I needed to learn to control my thoughts and take them captive for Christ and shut off the broken record. I needed to learn Christ had set me free.

I needed to listen to what He says.

As Christians, we decide what to meditate upon.

We have several choices. We can think about:

1. What we say about ourselves
2. What others say about us
3. What the world says about us
4. What Satan says about us (LIES, LIES, LIES) or
5. What God says about us (TRUTH, TRUTH, TRUTH)

Satan will always lie and friends will usually only tell us what we want to hear. We can’t trust what the world says or our own words either. Our only trustworthy source is God. If we listen to any other source we’ll miss God’s will and disobey Him in order to “eliminate” fallout from critics. Peace no longer depends on Christ, but on the absence of conflict.

So how do we silence the broken record?

Focus on God and what He says.

Simple — yet, oh so challenging.

Turn off the lies.

Stop cooperating with the enemy.

Start agreeing with God.

Listen to what He says.

The Battle Plan:

1. Shut down the lies. The second a thought slithers into your mind that does not agree with what God says about you, shut it down. (For example: Say the enemy wants you to believe you are not smart enough to complete a task God has given you. Literally say out loud, “That is not truth. I am not stupid, God has given me the mind of Christ.”)
2. Praise God. Finish off your verbal power session with a round of praise for our mighty God. “God, I thank You that You are stronger than anything that comes against me. Thank You that You have called me and chosen me for this task.” The enemy will flee at the sound of His great Name.
3. Re-purpose your thoughts. Remember all the hours you spent replaying some awful scene in your head in slo-mo? A fight with your husband, an attack from coworker, a mistake you made in a very public setting? The next time you are tempted to dwell on the hurt, re-purpose that time for thinking on what God says in His Word.
4. Repeat the steps above as often as needed.

It works. I know.

Today, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of your self talk. The moment a negative thought pops into your head, replace it. 

Think truth. Speak truth. Change your life.

Tweet This

Be a doer of the Word. Listen to what He says.

copyright 2016

all rights reserved

Christmas To Do-ers List

Day 8: Go Tell About Him

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” Luke 2:17-18

The night started out just like any other.

At dusk, the shepherds settled themselves and their sheep in for the night, on the alert to possible attacks.  

Extraordinary usurped ordinary when an angel and celestial choir burst upon the quiet night sky

Tweet This

The shepherds surely shared with Mary and Joseph about the angels’ visit, and unable to contain themselves, they lost no time in sharing this hot-off-the-presses news about the baby King they found in a manger with anyone who would listen.

Jesus has that effect on people. He likes to stir things up. When the sacred intersects the ordinary, spectacular things happen. The lame walk. The blind see. Sinners are forgiven. Addictions are broken. And angels sing—and not just for Jesus’ birth. Luke 15:10 tells us that whenever another soul is won to heaven, heaven celebrates.

What About Us?

Tell about Jesus this Christmas

Perhaps your story isn’t as flashy as a million-watt sky filled with angels. But the reality is, you’re a different person than you were before Jesus, and that is a story that deserves to be told. In the way only you can tell it. Never underestimate the power of a changed life to reach others.

Like the shepherds, be alert to those God has primed for your story. As a matter of fact, pray for God to send those who need a word from you. Let’s look at a few ways to share:

1. Practice your story.Write down a 1-minute version of your story. Your life before Jesus, your conversion and your life after Jesus. And share it when God opens the door for you to do so.
2. Give tangible help. Bring a meal to a family with a new baby or to a family going through a hard time. Pray that God opens a way for you to share with them, either now or in the future.
3. Volunteer to teach a class at your church or lead a neighborhood Bible study. Both children and adults need to hear that Jesus loves them enough to have died for them.
4. Write out your story longhand or on your computer so that future generations of your family will have a copy. You never know when your story will be able to reach through time to influence others.

Mary and I appreciate you joining us over Advent for this series. Be looking for our New Year’s podcast over the next week. Merry Christmas to your and your family!

Christmas To Do-ers List

Day 7: Serve Him

36 “Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”

Luke 2:36-38

There are over 120 miracles recorded in the Bible. Memorable deeds, acts of bravery and great faith which are recorded for all eternity in God’s word: Moses parting of the Red Sea,  Peter walking on water, David slaying Goliath. Saints brought down walls, survived fiery furnaces, raised the dead and healed the sick.

There is one woman we must remember,

Anna the prophetess. Remember her miraculous deed for the Lord? I didn’t either at first. What did Anna do?

She fasted and she prayed.

For over eighty years, she lived in the temple and served God.  Eighty years of fasting, praying and serving?  That’s a miracle.

What did Anna pray about?

I imagine as Anna was constantly in the temple, she saw many people come with their sins and their sacrifices. Perhaps some with tears and anguish mingled on their faces.  It would not be unlikely to assume Anna watched and  prayed for these people as they worshiped.

I also think Anna spent much of her time praying for her nation and for the coming Savior. Because she was constantly in the presence of God, her heart was tender to His sudden appearing with His mother and father, Mary and Joseph.

No service is too small when you serve a great God.

Tweet This

The heroes of old listed above were blessed because they saw the hand of God in their circumstances. Anna, after a lifetime of service, was blessed to see the face of  God in her Savior Jesus.

Action Points:

1. Who needs a little help today? Perhaps an elderly neighbor needs help wrapping presents, baking cookies or shoveling snow. Be the hands of Jesus and serve a neighbor.
2. Who in your family needs a little help today? Does your spouse need help with a chore or their to-do list? Does another family member need encouragement? Be the hands of Jesus and serve your family.
3. Pray and ask Jesus to show you someone who needs help today. Be looking for opportunities to share the love of Christ. Be the hands of Jesus and serve a stranger.

Please comment on how you plan to serve other today.

Serve others by serving Him. Merry Christmas.

Please enjoy the Christmas music below.