Tag Archives: Bible

Not in My Dictionary ~ Five Minute Friday

4 Replies

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

Not in My Dictionary

As a teacher and mother, I’ve received my fair share of excuses. From “I forgot”, to “They told me to”, and the ever-popular “I didn’t think it applied to me.” One of the most unique though, was used on the familiar assignment of looking up and writing the definitions for vocabulary words. Thumbing through the returned papers, one stood out from the others. At first glance it clearly had much less writing on the page and a closer look revealed why. Behind a majority of the words the same phrase was written; “Not in my dictionary” was the excuse used for not completing the homework as expected.

Answering a knock on my classroom door, I found a co-worker holding in her hand my son’s “creative” attempt at following directions. Promising to get to the bottom of it, that’s just what I did. I was relieved (however short lived) to know he hadn’t blatantly lied, BUT, because he didn’t want to take the time or put in the effort, my son decided to use an advertising pamphlet for a dictionary that had a few sample pages in it, instead of the actual dictionary sitting on his desk! The words were in fact, not in the dictionary he purposely chose to use. Instead of giving his best, an excuse was offered and ultimately, an opportunity to shine, lost .

How often do we adults do the very same thing? Maybe it’s taking a short cut, looking for a way out,  or choosing quick over quality. Similar excuses? Oh I have them and I’ll bet you do to.
~Tithe? “Oops, I forgot this week.
~Watching THAT show. “They told me to.”
~Forgiving a family member. “I don’t think it applies to me in this situation.”
We even live as if saying “not in MY Bible,” when we attempt to purposely pick and choose the verses and words we’re willing to follow, while knowing we have the whole Word of God to guide us right at our fingertips. Instead of presenting our best, we often offer an excuse to put forth less, and our opportunity to be a light in the world, is lost.

“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16 (NIV)

In my dictionary, some of the definitions for “excuse” are: to remove blame, serve as a justification, and release from an obligation. Unfortunately, we don’t have to look far in this world to find lots of dimming and extinguished lights being smothered by a “bowlful” of these very reasons. I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I don’t have to look any further than myself!

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Philippians 2:14-16a (NIV)

If I’m being honest, “shining star” isn’t always an accurate description of me. You either? Here’s the thing though, I’m learning we can’t let that be an excuse to not give our best to complete our “assignment”. Is illuminating God easy? No. Does good work take time and sacrifice? Definitely. Will we always get it right? You and I both know the answer to that. We won’t. We’re challenged however, to work at living lives with meaning found “not in my dictionary“, but rather, ones defined by God’s Word, bringing Him glory and offering a glimmer of hope to those around us.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be throughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

Once again this is MORE than five minute MONDAY for me, but I am joining with other writers at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com this week, thinking about the prompt “Excuse”. (Yikes! I have a lot of them in my life) If you’re interested to see what others have to say on the subject, just click the link. You won’t be sorry! I am grateful you’ve taken your time to join me and my pondering once again. I do not take it for granted! 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeeming Promises~Five Minute Friday

6 Replies

“My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; and my soul, which You have redeemed.” Psalm 71:23 (NASB)

Redeeming Promises

Carefully placed between the pages of my Bible, are “heart treasures”: cards, notes, prayers, photos, letters, and such, that I’ve saved over the years. Things so precious, I want to keep them close to refresh my memory of the rich love they hold. One such gem is this “Christmas Coupon Book” given to me years ago by my young daughter. Each coupon page written in her little girl handwriting, was a gift I could redeem whenever I chose to.

As you can see, I was presented with a wide variety of promises. (My favorite is “kill flies”! We lived in an old house at the time, where in the fall, the flies thought they lived there too. It was a job not taken lightly! ) The thing is, by tucking her words away, I failed to benefit from the opportunities so generously offered out of love, to make my life better.

How often do we do the same thing with our actual Bible? God’s Word is a treasure meant to be held close. We know it’s a gift, full of precious words and rich with love for each of us, yet, we frequently tuck it away for going through later, failing to gain from the life it offers.

As a reminder, imagine with me for a moment, a “Christ Coupon Book”, to us, from God, each page written with the palms of Jesus’s hands:

Page 1- “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (NLT)

Page 2- “They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. The will kill him, and after three days he will rise.’ ” Mark 9:31 (NIV)

Page 3- “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, ‘I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’ ”
John 8:12 (NLT)

Page 4- “But-When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”
Titus 3:5 (NLT)

Page 5- “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”
Luke 12:24 (NIV)

Page 6- “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you.”
John 15:4-5a (NIV)

The Bible presents us with promises after promises, so generously given, not just to make our lives better, but to offer us eternal life!  The question is, will we chose to benefit from His gift?

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”
Ephesians 2:8 (NLT)

In this time of Lent as we prepare to make our way to the foot of the cross and the empty tomb,  what if we also seek out the treasure of God’s Word once again, along the way. Let’s challenge ourselves to pull our Bibles off shelves, out of drawers, from under the stack and day by day, refresh our memories of all the “treasures of The Heart” we have received!

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!” Psalm 107:2a (NASV)

Writing today along with my friends at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com to the prompt, “Redeem”. You can click over to read more thoughts and even join in with us yourself! I want you to remember that I do not take for granted the time you offer me when you stop in. I count it as a gift for sure!