Author: Heather Davis

Scripture Memory: Ten Tips for Getting Started

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Before I begin with my personal tips and tricks for Scripture memory, I would like to humbly invite you to join with me in an attempt to memorize Psalm 119. Even if you do not feel able to memorize such a large chunk of Scripture at the present season of your life, I invite you to study along with us.

If you would like to participate as part of a group, I have a Facebook group called Memorizing Psalm 119 (link embedded) which has a suggested memorization schedule posted in the “Files” section. I will honor all requests to join the group and will only delete anyone who behaves in a non-Christian manner on the group page.

If you do join  us, note that I will be using the ESV translation, but you can use whichever you are most comfortable with. 🙂

For the next several weeks (beginning on Sunday, October 4, 2015), I will be attempting to hide this word of God in my heart as I study the psalm, and I hope to write weekly devotional thoughts or study notes as I go.  It is my prayer that these posts will be of some encouragement, interest, or benefit to the Body of Christ and that our God will be glorified in it.  This blog will be mainly  devoted to that purpose until we finish, in part to keep me accountable and to help me memorize.

Now for some tips:

  • First: Prayer. Pray for the time,  for the mental ability, and that you will not be distracted or discouraged by the enemy. Should you succeed, pray that you will not become puffed up with pride at your accomplishment but that God will use the memorized portion for His own purposes and glory.
  • Second: You can do it! One key to accomplishing anything is to begin by believing you can. If you fail, so what? You’ve at least tried.  God can use our failures as well as our triumphs; indeed, sometimes He uses our failures even more!
  • Third: Scripture memory can seem daunting at first, especially if you are thinking of tackling a large section. One of the first things to keep in mind is that you are not memorizing a whole passage in one sitting. Just as a 1000-mile journey will only be taken a few miles at a time, any passage you want to commit to memory will be done a few verses at a time. (For this project, it is only eight verses a week.)
  • Fourth:  Write it out. Copy each section word-for-word from your Bible. Be intentional about writing it, copying carefully and thoughtfully. Say it aloud while writing it out. Maybe even write it several times.  If you like, get a special notebook, note card holder, or whatever works for you and designate that as your Scripture memory and study tool.
  • Fifth: Review and more review. Take your notebook/journal/note card holder everywhere you go.  Start by reading the section out loud to yourself;  then try to recite it line by line, checking yourself between each line. When you are confident that you can correctly do one line at a time, try two at a time, then three, and so on. Have a relative or friend check you
  • Sixth: Recite, recite, recite. Follow the above procedure at least once, but preferably two to three times, every day. Always recite the verse(s) out loud. Somehow saying it aloud seems to make it stick.
  • Seventh: Did I say recite? Tell it to yourself in the mirror. Tell it to your spouse or children — or better yet, have them do it with you and check each other! Tell it to your dog, cat, or even a potted plant. The more you recite a section, the deeper it sinks into memory and the easier it is to add to it.
  • Eighth: When you add a new section, keep reciting the previous ones. Just add new sections into your daily recitation using the procedure outlined on the fifth step for each new section. Keep on reciting and reviewing “old” sections!
  • Ninth: Don’t be surprised if the earlier sections come easier than the later ones. You’ve (hopefully!) recited them more often.
  • Tenth:  If you get behind, don’t worry! If you are here to join in the project of memorizing Psalm 119, understand that the project is flexible. The schedule I suggested in the Facebook group is just that: a suggestion and not an absolute.

The goal to hiding God’s Word in our hearts is never to win a race or meet a deadline. The ultimate goal is nicely stated in Psalm 119:11 — “I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

Blessings to you on your Scripture memory journey! May the Lord give you a clear and capable mind, protecting you against the schemes of our enemy.   Feel free to share any tips or trick you have used! I would love to hear them.

A Small Glimpse of Glory

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.   — Psalm 19:1

A typical night: I went to let the dogs out before I headed off to bed. However, the night sky caught me and drew me in. I could see so many stars. I even think I may have, for the second time this month, seen a faint trail that could have been the Milky Way.

I was overwhelmed by thoughts. . . Far too much to put down all at once. Yet two I want to share:

First, that the Creator of all this splendor and all the vast array of the heavens would entrust such a faulty and unreliable vessel as I am to do His work! It makes me long to be more worthy, to be less wayward, and to be more fixed on Him. To  be loved by such as Him makes me want to be more lovable.

Oh, how I do love Him! If moments like this are just “seeing in a mirror, dimly,” I am not sure I can handle the real thing. But I want it; I want to see even more of His glory, even if I cannot survive it.

Beyond that, I was stricken with the thought that our enemy often masquerades as an angel of light.  More specifically, He counterfeits every single attribute of the Almighty; and he is subtle and he is wily.

The Eternal One and His Son are both called the Light in various places throughout the Scriptures — the Light of the World, a Light to the Gentiles, and so on. Yet what is it that masks the glory of God proclaimed in the heavens above? Light pollution.

Call me crazy — you wouldn’t be the first — but before you do, allow me to say that I do not believe all technology is evil or any such nonsense.

Yet I cannot help but think that our enemy tries to use every benign thing to cloak the glory of God. Even our artificial lights.  Maybe especially light, because it gives him that same grim satisfaction bullies get when they can use the good kid’s own goodness against him.

However, the heavens still proclaim the glory of God and they will go on proclaiming it even if no one can see it. His glory is beyond the enemy’s power to corrupt; it is beyond any power to destroy. There is no counterfeit of the enemy that can cover or contain the one true Light of the World.  He may have been able to dim the stars for a time, but he has not yet found a way to darken the sun.

And the Sun of Righteousness is oh, so much stronger and brighter than that little ball of blazing gas.

I don’t know what it is, exactly, but tonight in one brief, electricity-blurred, and mosquito-harried examination of the nighttime masterpiece, I was overcome by how truly great is our God.  He is truly Sovereign over all and I put all my trust in Him.

As the old hymn by Louisa M. R. Stead says, “Oh, for grace to trust Him more!”

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”   John 16:33

Growing Weary

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

My tenth year of homeschooling is well underway, and I can safely say that the novelty of the thing has worn off. We are past the age of frequent, fun field trips. Gone, too, are the days of using a park day for PE or nature study.

Instead,  workloads are more intense and the focus of schooling has shifted.  We are now training for future college and job success, centering on such skills as meeting deadlines, developing good study skills and a good work ethic, and so on.

Top off this mixture with a dash of unavoidable adolescent upheaval and presto! A recipe for occasional student mutiny or parental discouragement. It isn’t that the children are rebellious, it’s just that they are all at an age where they are trying to find out who they are.

In her excellent book, For Parents Only, Shaunti Feldhahn likens this process to the building of a castle. Since all the growing young person has to build with are the “blocks” my husband and I have tried to instill within them (our beliefs, principles, etc.), the only way they can construct their own identity is to dismantle the parts we have provided and examine each one, trying to decide whether or not it fits into their life.

Ms. Feldhahn writes, “We know in theory that kids need to find their own identity. What we often don’t realize is that the process they go through may feel an awful lot like rejection to us.”

Yes, the Davis Academy is firmly entrenched in this process right now.  Again and again, I feel deflated. Again and again, I feel like a parental failure. Again and again, I am in anguish to realize that most of my children only pick up their Bibles when they are told to; that they do not have a driving inner desire to seek out the face of our God.

Again and again, I am reminded that I am still on the front lines of a spiritual battle. Right now, it is raging most fiercely for the hearts and minds of my young man and women. The part that makes me feel most helpless is that I am at a point in this battle where I have done everything else (albeit imperfectly) and all I can do is to stand firm.

And pray. I am praying for them passionately.

I am faced with hard questions now: Does the 24/7 parenting model offered by homeschooling guarantee God-fearing children? Do morning Bible studies and Bible-based curriculum choices guarantee that each child will truly believe and choose to give their lives for Him? Does giving up my best wage-earning years in order to stay home and teach my children guarantee that I will, in fact, make disciples?

Unfortunately, no.

All I can do is be faithful to my own calling, be obedient to what God tells me to do, and remember not to grow weary in my work but to rely on Him for the strength to see me through. I can live in His grace and act in His love.

Seeking His face diligently, I can let Him transform me more and more into the perfect image of Christ, both allowing the process of sanctification and willingly participating in it.  I can share the ever-growing love I have for my God with my children and let them see the changes He has wrought for themselves. I can pray intensely for them, pleading with God to keep them walking in His light.

But I cannot make them love Him. In the few short years when they begin to leave our little nest, I cannot make them choose wisely. With my efforts, this is not possible. However, all things are possible with God.

Today, I will remember to praise Him anyway. I will remember not to judge the fruit of the tree by its barely-formed buds, for my children are not mature but still saplings with much growing left to do.

The work I am called to do is not always easy, but it is always worth it.  I will fight the good fight on behalf of my children, not giving up until the work is done, praying diligently that each one will truly love the Savior and seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness in their lives.

I pray they will some day astonish me with the depth and breadth of their love and faith. If they require a time of falling prey to the enemy’s lies in order to see the stark contrast in the ways of the prince of this world and the Prince of peace, I will not give up praying for them. I will not stop fighting for them.

In the meantime,  I will keep my eyes on the Lord, allowing Him to be my strength and believing that in due season, I will reap if I do not give up.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:12-13

Lessons from Parenthood

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Proverbs 3:11-12

My home is awash in hormones. I pity my husband, really, as he seems to be the only member of our family who is not going through some physio-chemical change right now. All three of our children are in various stages of puberty, and I… well, I am a woman in my 40s. Enough said.

Last week, one of the inevitable explosions occurred smack in the middle of our school day. My middle daughter and I clashed over a particular point of continuing disrespectful behavior. Warnings and verbal rebukes had been given in plenty, yet the problem persisted. Rather than accepting correction with humility, she responded sullenly, certain she had been wronged and blaming me entirely rather than accepting any responsibility for her own actions.

Try as I do not to take these things personally, there was a bit of me that was hurt by her petulant response to discipline. I was overcome by a sense of my own inadequacy and felt like a failure as a mom. A more selfish part of me was frustrated that, after all I have sacrificed in order to home school, the results were not meeting my expectations.

In that moment, I desperately wished that my children could see the grace they are given when my husband and I warn them not to continue in wrong behaviors.  I wished that they would accept accountability for their actions rather than assigning blame elsewhere.  I wanted them all to know the sacrifices that have been made so they can have the life they do.

I also longed for them to stop receiving gentle rebukes as if they were merely a reprieve from punishment, but instead to heed them as sincere warnings that unpleasant consequences lie ahead if the behavior continues. I wished the kids would just listen and understand that all the discipline my husband and I administer is done out of love and for their own good.

Oh…

Realization punched through my agitation: I am often exactly like my child. In all the incorrect responses of my child, I see a reflection of my own incorrect responses to my Father’s discipline.

I love that my Father keeps me humble. I love that He uses the painful incidents — and even failures — of my own parenting to remind me of His own sacrificial, nurturing nature; to bring my focus off my problems or my hurt and back to Him where it belongs.

Perhaps next time there is a parent/child conflict, I will remember that parenting is a part of my own spiritual training.  Perhaps my children’s responses will serve to remind me to respond with humility and openness when I am chastened.  Perhaps I can keep my eyes on the enormous sacrifice of my Father, losing myself entirely in the depths of His overwhelming love.

Perhaps, too, the next time simmering emotions boil over into full-scale battle, I will not cave to feelings of parental failure but rely on the only perfect Father to be my wisdom and my strength.

When I am grieved by my children, let it be a reminder to me how my Father grieves when I ignore His still, small voice.  May it be that both my children and I will always turn to Him no matter what external or internal forces may be at work. And I pray that I may always, always be faithful to discipline my children in love, forgiving them as I have been forgiven, and at all times pointing them to God both in my words and my deeds.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Ephesians 4:31-5:1

Loving the Truth

~ Heather Davis ~ 3 Comments

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10

Today I give my final (for now) thoughts on truth. As an aside: I recently finished a  Bible study by Beth Moore entitled Children of the Day.  It is an excellent guide through the two letters to the church in Thessalonica, and before I continue I would like to wholeheartedly recommend it.

During the course of studying and copying the two letters by hand, I spent much time thinking about the coming Day of the Lord. The whole process refreshed me and gave me new perspective during a season of discouragement and even doubt in my minuscule ministry. It also left the last eleven words of 2 Thessalonians 2:10 ringing in my head.

I had honestly never noticed those words before. Perhaps it is because the phrase about love rejoicing with the truth was already lingering in my thoughts, but when I read this section of 2 Thessalonians, the thought of those who refuse to love the truth hit me hard.

I have already been feeling sorrow over the many who do not know the truth and live without hope or with false hope. Ignorance, however, can be remedied.  It was truly gut-wrenching to me to think about the people who do know the truth and yet refuse to love it. It tears me up inside that many men and women will see clear evidence of the truth and yet, with great hostility, reject it.

What was humbling to me about this is that I may never know the difference.  Some who appear to reject truth (like my old self) will eventually come to know it, love it, and even live for it. Others may grow colder and harder the more exposure to truth they have, willfully closing their eyes to the evidence and their hearts to the One who is Love.  Some may even pretend to embrace truth while their hearts are far from the Lord, neither truly believing nor loving the truth. I grieve for all of these.

Perhaps it is because my teenage son is taking a course in apologetics this year, or perhaps it is just the inundation of misunderstanding, moral confusion, and outright lies that I find my social media pages awash in, but I am finding a greater passion within me to not only know the truth, but to live like I know it. I also find it exciting to think of sharing the truth with whoever will listen… and maybe even with some who don’t really want to listen but are, for whatever reason, a captive audience.

The more I learn about God’s truth and the more I see the world drifting haphazardly without a tether to Him, the more passionate I become about sharing. I have lately prayed more desperately that the Light of the World would shine so brightly in my life that others may see and be drawn to God. More than ever before, I want Him to increase and myself to decrease in my writing, my parenting, and every other aspect of my life.

Yet it is humbling to realize that even if I surrender perfectly and lead a Spirit-led life from now until my last breath,  and even if my tiny ministry inexplicably grew to touch millions, there will always be those who will refuse to love the truth.  I can plant the seeds, I can water, but only God can bring the increase.

And so, no matter what else, I am asking Him to bring the increase. I am asking Him to revive the hearts of His people and to pour out His Spirit in abundance. I am pleading with Him to renew His works in our day.  I am asking that I may love His truth more and more, that my family will cherish His truth and His ways, and that His word will speed ahead and be honored.

And I am praying for you, that if you read these words, you will be among those who love the truth and so will be saved.

I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. . .   Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalms 119:94-97

What is the Truth?

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32

More on truth. . .  I told you, I have had truth on the brain lately! We’ve already talked about one link between love and truth and how love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

But what is the truth? I don’t have enough space here to explain how I came to believe that the Bible is true nor to give credit to all the evidence as I have had it explained to me over the years. If you want some depth, there are many good books on the topic including I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.

For today, I will simply state that I believe the Bible to be true on good evidence. I believe there is an actual, Creator God who made all that we can see, taste, touch, and understand, and I believe in His ability to radically transform a life based on my personal experience. I also believe that man has an immortal soul that will exist after the death of the body, and so Eternity of greater importance than the transient life of the body.  The eternal impact of our choices in this life are grave.

Because God created everything, it is His definition of wrong and right — His decisions on morality — that constitutes moral truth and provides the standard for right and wrong.  By experience and observation alone, I can see the truth that mankind is sinful.  Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

We are, all of us, selfish and self-centered. While we may have moments of charity and compassion, if we are brutally honest with ourselves, even those moments are frequently tainted by self-righteousness or motivated by personal satisfaction rather than selflessness. We have all lied. We are all imperfect. Originally created in the image of God, we have without exception allowed sin to twist and distort that image.

All but Jesus, that is.

The ultimate embodiment of Truth was in the person of Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He came to live as a man without sin, unreservedly given over to the will of the Father. As a Man, He alone retained the unspoiled Image of God, living out a loving and total trust in the Father’s will.  In His first appearing, He came not to conquer and rule as is His right, but to suffer and die for the sake of a people who had repeatedly rejected Him and who repeatedly still do. He came to drink the full cup of God’s wrath and spare each one of us that horror if we will accept His way.

He died for the truth of a holy God who loves all the men He created and yet cannot be defiled by their sin. Jesus died to bridge the gap; the only unstained Image Bearer who willingly gave Himself as ransom for all who are corrupt so that, through Him, we may all come before the Almighty.

It is only by faith in Jesus that anyone can be saved. This faith, if it is real faith, invariably involves an understanding of and recognition of sin that is very personal and leads to contrition and repentance. Genuine repentance brings about surrender to the Lord and His will. Only by this process of “putting on Christ” which is compared to changing garments (Eph. 4:22-24) and to dying to sin (Romans 6) can we enter the presence of the One whose name is Holy; the Creator God.

In Christ alone, we are set free from a hopeless bondage to sin and death and given instead a hope of eternal life lived in the glorious presence of the Almighty. In Christ, we are restored; the image of God in us is renewed. What grace and mercy! I am humbled by the enormity of it and intensely grateful for the grace of a God who could merely destroy His rebellious creation and yet chooses to rescue and redeem.  How can I not love this truth?

But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true.
Psalms 119:151

Love and Truth

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
1 Corinthians 13:6

I have had truth on the brain lately. Such thoughts remind me of my life before Christ and of the old me who sincerely believed that truth was relative.  At the time, I embraced the idea of relative truth because in that way, truth did not meddle so much in my affairs.

In those days, I overlooked the fact that if truth actually was relative, someone else’s relative truth might just infringe upon  my personal rights as I perceived them. In such a case, I really had no right to get fussy about it because believing in relative truth means that ALL truth is relative, not just mine.

Somehow in those days of trying to justify rebellion, I missed that starkly glaring problem of relativism. If there is not an absolute truth, and  in particular an absolute standard for right and wrong, then we are all just free-floating in an undulating and endless sea of contradictory opinions.

Without some tangible and solid standard to hold fast to, there is no meaning or purpose and no direction to take. Left is as good as right in a relative world.  Truth, according to the ideology of relativism, is no more than an opinion, akin to a person’s favorite color. I like turquoise, you like scarlet; murder for you but not for me. If each opinion is truth to that person, then it all carries equal weight.

The idea of relative truth is so pervasive that it has even infiltrated the Church. There are many who are sensitive to the accusations that Christians are intolerant, bigoted, and judgmental and so are afraid to take any stand at all. Others are so immersed in the culture of relativism that the are not sure what”truth” really means, are not deeply familiar with what God’s truth is, and so are easily persuaded by other ideologies. Still others are either unaware or simply do not really believe in God’s sovereignty or the authority of Scripture.  The possible reasons are endless.

However, truth has a funny way of remaining truth despite a lack of understanding or belief. The fact is that as Creator, God alone is the only Being with the right to define absolute truth, moral or otherwise.

But… what has all this to do with love? Well, everything, really. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the currently fashionable idea of “love” tends to embrace most of Paul’s definition in 1 Corinthians 13 yet omit verse 6. I don’t think this is intentional. I believe that most Christians simply don’t know what to do with that verse.

I believe that we, as a people, have largely forgotten that real, honest, heart-felt love cannot be divorced from the truth,  especially in the sense of moral truth.  If we truly believe that all men have immortal souls, then the close relationship between love and truth becomes incredibly clear.

Knowing that Jesus’s atoning sacrifice was given so that we may approach the throne of grace and that genuine contrition for sin and repentance are necessary components of accepting and yielding to His grace ought to compel us not only to understand what does and does not constitute “sin,” but to share it with a confused and dying world.

It’s true that Jesus is and was a loving Man, perfectly loving the Father and mankind. The earthly life of Jesus exemplifies the harmony of love and truth.  He showed His love in patience and kindness; in putting the needs of others (namely all of us who have sinned) before His own and in healing and providing for the needs of many.

However, Jesus also showed His love by holding fast to the truth. That He did not rejoice in wrongdoing is clearly seen in His response to the money-changers in the temple, His admonishment to the woman caught in adultery to “Go and sin no more,” and the similar advice to the man healed beside the pool called Bethesda, among others (see John 2:15, 5:14, and 8:11).

His love did not come without a stern word of rebuke when appropriate, precisely because it was actual love. Jesus knows better than we the unqualified destructiveness of sin, especially in an eternal context. Indeed, He has watched the decay of creation from the very beginning and wrongdoing in any form has never once caused Him to rejoice.

For today, let’s rejoice in the truth that Jesus died to save sinners such as us. We can rejoice that He loves us enough to be both tender and firm, to discipline and to encourage. And we can rejoice that His truth will withstand the ages, whether it is acknowledged or not.

Back-to-School Meditations

~ Heather Davis ~ 3 Comments

But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?
Matthew 16:8

And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Mark 8:21

 

Back to school. Those words invoke a pretty wide range of emotions, from excitement to dread and everything in between, sometimes all at once.  As a home school mom, I often suffer from a sense of insecurity at the start of each new year. Will I be able to help the children with their subject matter? Will we cover enough information? Will they be well-rounded and well-grounded? Most importantly, are they really getting it when it comes to their Bible studies and their relationships with God?

As usual, I was talking with God about my fears and insecurities before we began our school year and discussing with Him the fact that my teen and pre-teen children seemed to be further than ever from Him. I was bemoaning my failure, asking Him to show me where I had gone wrong. Have I been too legalistic? Too harsh? Too lenient?

As I poured out my heart to Him, God hushed me with the reminder that even the best Teacher the world has ever known did not always get His lesson across to His students.  If Jesus asked questions of His disciples such as, “Do you still not understand?” so frequently, do I honestly believe I can achieve better results?

No, I am not a perfect teacher. I would venture to say fairly boldly that I am not even a good one. Nor am I a perfect role model, especially to these three who have seen the irrational and bizarre moods caused by the prodromal phase of a migraine often enough to recognize and identify it with uncanny accuracy.  However, if God has truly called me to do this — and I am convinced that He has at least for now — then He is faithful and He will surely do it.

Despite my fondest, early imaginings, none of my children are super-geniuses nor are they super-spiritual. While they are all bright and have gifts in different areas, none of them are on track for college graduation before they can drive (which is a blessing since I would be on track for the funny farm if they were!). To my sorrow, not a single one of them shows the glimmerings of an astonishing faith, an especial zeal, nor of deep insight into the things of God.

However, as God  reminded me on that morning walk, the twelve disciples did not exactly show signs of being world-changers during the time of their tutelage, either.  So many times Jesus patiently and lovingly reprimanded them for their little faith or for failing to understand parables or events.  As a matter of fact, there were areas in which the group did not connect the dots until after He had been crucified and rose again:

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
John 12:16

It heartened me to begin the new year with a fresh perspective. This understanding does not eliminate the weight of my responsibility one whit, nor do I take my job less seriously. Indeed, it inspires me to prayerfully seek the Spirit’s help to be more patient when I repeat myself again and again and again and again…

It also makes me resolved to work at home schooling heartily,  as to the Lord and not to men. It reminds me to continue diligently to study His Word and show myself approved, to love the Lord my God with all that I am, and to encourage my children to do the same.

And perhaps most importantly, I will not judge the fruit of my little gardens before the seedlings have even produced proper buds. I will continue to plant, to water with both prayers and tears, and to ask God for the wisdom and strength to tend them well during the time I am given. Then, when I have done all that is within my ability to do, I will step back and watch to see what God will make of my little efforts.

I firmly believe that He who calls me is faithful; He will surely do it. And I pray the “it” I wait to see will be that God will bring all three of my children into a close relationship with Him, loving Him with all their hearts, souls, and with minds that are well-trained despite my inadequacies.

 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7

 

Embracing What May Come

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5

It seems that every time I look at Facebook, my feed is filled with atrocities, horrifying acts of violence, signposts that indicate waning morality and even social insanity, hints of increasing government control  in America and simultaneously decreasing public awareness, and all manner of corruption both here and abroad.

Then there are the inevitable social media responses which vary from outraged furor to gleeful celebration to bland misunderstanding.

Sometimes it all just sounds like noise to me. And I grow so weary of Facebook and of the news…

All things taken as a whole, it does appear that as a nation we no longer accept any actual standard for discriminating between right and wrong. Media seems to play an increasingly large role in creating and supporting a somewhat shifty moral basis, more intent on what captures the attention of the people than honoring any absolute truth.  The role of government seems to have shifted, too. No longer merely content to uphold a certain standard of right and wrong, they are now modifying it to fit the mood of the people.

Friends, that is not only sad, it’s frightening. If what is “moral” today can become “immoral” tomorrow based on something strikingly similar to a whim, than the value of our very lives is subject to fluctuation.  If morality is a standard judged by something as fickle as society — like fashion — than there is no future guarantee of safety, prosperity, rights… of anything, really.

“Here is a simple but profound rule: If there are no absolutes by which to judge society, then society is absolute.” — Francis A. Shaeffer

I admit these things scare me some. I understand history enough to see the logical conclusions of the very choices that are presently being made by our country.  I am often saddened at what likely lies ahead, particularly for my children and subsequent generations.

But I also have hope, for I am reminded constantly that this America is not my country.  I belong to a Kingdom that is not of this world, and when I view the signs of the times through that lens, I am no longer afraid. In fact, I feel excited. Exhilarated even.

No matter how quickly or slowly the moral climate of America may shift, one thing we can count on as believers is that persecution will come. We are promised it in no uncertain terms many times over in Scriptures (see Matthew 2:9, John 15:20 to name a couple).

As Paul wrote to Timothy: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13).  Persecution is one certainty in an uncertain world. But we who are in Christ need not be afraid. Even persecution has immense value in our Kingdom’s economy.

Historically, the Church has thrived under persecution. It shakes things up, makes believers get to the root of their faith, brings out the importance of prayer and the preciousness of the Word. It leaves little time for bickering over secondary issues and brings Christ into sharp focus. It provides opportunities for real forgiveness where there little or no reason to forgive. It scatters communities of believers and brings the Gospel to new areas because of it.

It also highlights genuine love and faith in a risen Savior like nothing else really can. When believers choose hardship, exile, or death over renouncing their faith in Christ, it is a mighty witness to His worthiness. Others will be watching us, wondering if this thing is real. They already are. What are they seeing? May it be You, Lord; let it be You!

Yes, the darkness is menacing. But we are not children of the darkness, but of Light. It is heady stuff, my brothers and sisters. We do not have to knuckle under to fear, even if it should come knocking at our very doors. We serve a powerful and living God, a God worth not only living for but dying for, and we are His witnesses. Who knows but that we may be on the verge of seeing His hand move in ways we have so far only read of or dreamed about? That is exciting stuff!

Don’t let these crazy times make you fearful, bitter, or angry, Christian! Try to remember that we are just travelers tarrying here for a time on our journey Homeward.

Instead, let’s pray for strength for the Church and for each other, for unity in Christ, for a commitment to the King of kings and to His Kingdom purposes. Rather than feeling hopeless, pray that as we see lawlessness increase, we will also see grace increase more and more, and His Light in us will draw scores of souls to salvation in Christ Jesus. Let’s pray for humble, obedient hearts and for an eternal focus in our present lives.

Let’s pray for each other daily, for endurance and to see His glory and the power of the Holy Spirit. And let us not be sorrowful to live in such a time as this but rejoice at the opportunities they present!

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:4-5

 

Not Alone, Really

~ Heather Davis ~ 2 Comments

*Note: I wrote this some time ago but have hesitated to publish it in part because it is so raw. There is a lot of emotion wrapped up in the following words (and there are not a few), but perhaps there is also hope, and maybe someone out there may benefit from the knowledge that there are greater goals than fitting in. 

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.   Isaiah 53:3

I have a fourteen-year-old son who is not like other boys his age. His room is nearly immaculate (though I confess a wish that he would apply the same cleanliness standard to parts of the house or van that are not properly “his”). He loves routine and order and does not handle surprises well. He is not into sports.

He struggles socially, sometimes uses an inappropriately loud voice, and seems to find it much easier to befriend boys younger than him than kids his own age. My son has developed a tic or two in recent years that becomes worse when he is tired or stressed. He is very particular about textures and noise levels.

Thus far, I have refrained from labeling him; instead, my husband and I have embraced him exactly how he is, differences and all. We have an experiential understanding of such differences and so aim for training him to cope with life, teaching him the hard lessons we have learned and coaching him in what few social skills we have managed to pick up through the years of our own social awkwardness.

As he has grown, many of his guy friends have moved away he is now in a somewhat lonely season of life; a time when the friends within a couple of years of his age can be counted on one hand with fingers left over and friends he sees more often than once a month are even fewer.  I hurt for him with each buddy that moves, but I prod him to keep on reaching out, to keep trying.

Complicating matters are past instances when adults have invited him to various events, causing him great excitement. Unfortunately, I have also had to watch his crushing disappointment when he found out later that the event happened without him.  Again, I would share his pain, assure him it was an oversight and not actual rejection, and encourage him to keep trying.

I have pressed him to reach out to kids whose company he enjoys, watched him steel himself against his native nervousness and make the calls, watched him try and try until the lack of reciprocity finally made him quit. Again, I have plastered on a smile and told him that people are busy, that it is no reflection on him, that he should not quit trying.

To his enormous credit, I have watched him eagerly and faithfully attend his youth group every week despite the fact that I have seen the photos and videos of him hanging out on the outskirts, have heard his own declaration that he just doesn’t fit in though he still likes being there. And again, his hurt has become my own.

I remember being his age, and I remember being alone. I carried labels like “freak” and “loser,” and I can see him turning those labels over in his mind, wondering if they apply to him.

I try to encourage my son to expand his interests (they are very narrow), to try to take an interest in what other kids do even if it is not his area of expertise. I try to impart to him such lessons as I have learned in my own social struggles,  but I think he feels inept and clumsy, and he certainly prefers to retreat into video games or technology.

In the times I weep for my son, for the pain of growing up and of not fitting in, my Lord reminds me that He, too, was rejected. He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He reminds me that I, too, was a misfit and yet He has used me.  And He never called any of us to fit in but only to follow Him.

I think that Jesus must have experienced lonesomeness, for who could be more unlike other men than the Son of God on earth?

We are definitely not sinless, but we are not like others, my son and I. It is one tiny way we can share in His suffering, one small thing we can know He understands.

And so I pray that in the midst of his loneliness and social awkwardness, my son will draw near to the Lord. I pray that he will not shut out the only One who can fully understand and actually help. I pray that he will find the peace that can only be found in the mind fixed steadfastly on the Lord.

I pray that video games will no longer be his hiding place, but that he will turn to Jesus alone to find refuge from the pain of life; that he will look to the Lord for the comfort and strength that no game can offer. I pray that the Holy Spirit will navigate him through the confusing teen years complicated by the social awkwardness he apparently inherited from his parents.

Most of all, I pray that in my son’s tight little cocoon of pain, God is working on him even though I cannot see it; changing his faith into something that will someday take flight, exquisite and wonderful to behold. I pray that he will emerge from these trying years and rise up on wings like eagles’, soaring with full confidence in his God.

And I pray that at the end of this invisible, inner struggle, God will use my son to reach those who are bound by the painful and invisible cords of the social misfit, the outcast, the uncool. I pray that he will powerfully share the truth of acceptance into a Kingdom that is so much more glorious than any peer group on earth.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28