Romans 3.23

Continuing on my quest to memorize 100 verses recommended by Robert J. Morgan in his book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, I'm now working on what is referred to as the Roman Road, a set of verses that provides a framework for sharing the Good News. 

This simple verse pretty much sums up our need for receiving Jesus as our Savior. There's no getting around the phrase, "for ALL have sinned". No matter how nice and kind and generous and compassionate we are, we are all sinners.

This concept, I don't think, is too difficult to accept. Sure, I easily acknowledge that I will never be perfect like God who is the essence of purity and holiness. And when I have had conversations with others about this, they agree that they're sinners too. After all, it's impossible to be perfect. 

And so many people want to have a comfortable agreement with God that living a "good" life will be "good enough" to spend eternity in the Kingdom. But the cold, hard truth is that it's not good enough.

But verse 24 gives us some much needed hope. It says, "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". 

Translation: We are marked for good and made legitimate for free, at no cost to us, other than our belief that the debt Jesus paid on the cross was sufficient to set us right before God. 

This is the part that messes with people's heads, I think, because how can just believing this message be what God wants from us? How does that take all the wrongs in my life and make them forgiven? Having faith in Jesus can't be enough, can it?

It is. 

Over and over again in the New Testament we are instructed that faith in Jesus is all that is required to be washed clean of the sin that has accrued in our hearts and minds. 

This is what makes the Good News, so very wonderfully good enough. 

John 3.16

Like many children who grew up going to church, John chapter 3 and verse 16 was the first scripture that I committed to memory. And even if a person didn't memorize this text, if he or she watch any kind of televised sporting event, the chances of seeing a fan at the game wave a poster with the reference are likely fairly high. 

But I wonder for how many people, believers and non-believers alike, the regularity of seeing "John 3:16" that the message of what this verse is really about gets glossed over? I wonder this because if we really took it seriously, the world would be radically different for the way that we treated one another.

The world is made up of you and me, our families, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors, the clerk at the gas station, the teller at the bank, the plumber, the homeless veteran, the convict spending part of his/her life in prison, and the person who practices a faith that is completely different than yours.

Knowing that God sent his one and only Son to be the Sacrificial Lamb for each and every one of us, should change the way we see each other and treat each other. I shouldn't look at you as only what I see, but how God sees you - worth sending His Son to the cross for you.

I recently saw this video of Jose Antonio, 55, getting a makeover. He's been homeless for 25 years and life had taken a toll on him. 

In other videos of the same story, Jose goes to his local spots and starts talking to the people that he would regularly encounter and they didn't recognize him. And to be honest, who would? And surely people started to treat him differently because of the way that he looked. 

But let's remember that God loves the new hipster Jose Antonio, just as much as He loves the worn down Jose Antonio. And our love for others should be no different. 

If we really believed that God so loved the world, wouldn't we be less judgmental and more compassionate?

If we really believed that God so loved the world, wouldn't we be less stingy and more generous?

If we really believed that God so loved the world, wouldn't we be less afraid and more courageous?

These are just a few ideas, and I'm sure that you could add more. 

It's not that God so loved the world, but that he loves each of us, just as we are - no matter our circumstances or what skills, talents, or abilities, we have, no matter how many wrongs we have committed, His love is unconditional. 

Let's remember this with each person we encounter today.

John 1.14

When was the last time that something held your attention for so long that you completely lost track of time? 

A couple of weeks ago, I was sick, with what I referred to as the Plague of 2017. My head was so congested and I was hacking up a lung - I had just enough energy to tap my phone's screen to watch the next (and then the next, and the next - well you get the point) of Downton Abbey. Before I knew it, I had watched an entire season worth of shows in a matter of 10 hours. 

When I was really into creating scrapbooks, the designing, cutting and cropping, the placement of papers and stickers would absorb all of my attention and just like that - an entire Saturday would vanish.

When I was in elementary school I would shut my bedroom door and play with my Barbies for hours - literally sometimes from lunch to dinner during the summer time. 

One phrase of John 1.14 has been rolling over and over in my thoughts: "We have seen his glory". As I meditated on this verse and especially this phrase, I kept thinking, "What would it be like to be so consumed with the Son of God's glory, that I completely and utterly forgot about everything else?" 

Don't get me wrong, I've had moments of worship where this was true, but then like a dream, reality sets in and it's back to whatever it was that I was doing before with only the memory stamped onto my heart. 

Brother Francis, of "The Practice of the Presence of God" fame has written:

He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can.

And so this is my encouragement and challenge. Being captivated by the glory of the uniquely begotten Son isn't limited to a time and a place, it can be and is meant to be continuous. And in order to experience this, and dump the kinds of thoughts that only stir up trouble in my mind and heart, I must keep my thoughts on Christ, rather than on myself. 

If I can manage to do this, then the experience won't just be a fading memory, but instead a constant reality and awareness.

John 1.1-2

Photo by Bethany Ligon (2004)
Pont du Guard Roman aqueduct, France

The significance of John 1.1-2 is found in the first and last three words: "In the beginning" as it mirrors Genesis 1.1

Since the dawn of creation, God had it in mind that we would need a Savior. In fact, one version of these verses says, "In the beginning, there was God's grand design, that declaration was with God, related to Him as His project, and it was fully expressive of God Himself. It was with God in the beginning."

In education, we are told to plan with the end in mind; what is it that students should be able to do at the conclusion of the learning cycle? And so our daily lesson plans are constructed with the goal of getting every student to meet that objective. There are many considerations that are taken into account, most importantly, the students' prior knowledge and current skill level, not to mention time constraints and materials required. 

In His grand design, God took into account the same considerations. He knew the people that He would be calling into a relationship. He knew that some individuals would respond with a quiet whisper and others would need some tough circumstances to grab their attention. God knew that have some would be quick learners and those who would need more one on one individualized instruction. He knew the amount of time he had to accomplish this task and he knew what it would take to get it done. 

This brings me comfort in that there hasn't been any detail left unplanned for nor overlooked when it comes to God pursuing my heart. I can rest assured that He knows what He's doing, even when my own heart's vision and mind's understanding are lacking clarity. I can trust in His authority for every step that He asks me to take. 

It's been planned for since the beginning. 

Genesis 1.1

Several years ago I had the opportunity to travel in Italy. One of our stops in this beautiful country was to view the statue of David, by Michelangelo, in Florence. My first impression of this artwork, was how tall it was. The statue itself, from the top of his head to his feet is just under 17 feet tall and it stands upon a pedestal. My second impression was just how perfect this sculpture appeared to be. It is said that this piece of marble was a discarded block that sat unused for 25 years. Previous artists deemed it to be worthless because of the "flaws" that they observed. But when Michelangelo looked at this block of marble he saw the finished product, he saw David. (source)

CC Image: Michelangelo's David by Jörg Bittner Unna
on Wikimedia Commons  

When I read Genesis 1.1 I got to believe that in His omniscience God saw the entire expanse of the universe throughout all time before He even spoke it into being. Before there was the heavens, there was God. Before there was the earth, there was God. Before there was even time, there was God. 

This verse is the foundation of all the verses that follow it because God was, and God is, and God will always be. 

There is hope and promise in this verse. There is power and strength is this verse. There is peace and assurance in this verse. 

Can you image God's holy word starting off with any other declarative statement? Me neither.  

The next time you look up at the night sky, give praise to the Creator, the ultimate artist who took an expanse of nothingness and turned it into the wonderful and marvelous universe.

Quiet Time Journals

Do you have a method for keeping track of what you're thinking and reading and studying and praying during your "God Time"?

Right now, I'm lousy at it. There have been times that I have been really good at journaling and recording my big ideas. But those seasons of life have seemed to be sporatic, not consistent. 

I'm on a roll of reading my Bible daily, but just not writing anything down. I haven't been able to find a method or tactic or system that seems to work. 

But here's what I know from an educator's perspective...

In lesson planning, there are several components to designing an "effective lesson". You have the "hook" - the thing that gets your students' attention - this could be a task, a demonstration, a reading passage, whatever. Then you have the acquiring previous knowledge, the direct instruction, the guided practice. All teacher stuff that if you're teacher, you know and if you're not a teacher, all you've been reading for the last couple of sentences is blah, blah, blah.

But the one final component that teachers include in a lesson before turning students loose to practice the skill on their own is Closure. As a teacher, I need to be able to assess what stuck in my students' thinking and what completely went in one ear and out the other. Closure can be in the form of Q&A or having students jot down what they got or what they didn't get or a myriad of other techniques. 

I think that same component of Closure is necessary in my my quiet God Time. Otherwise, I'm just reading Scripture and praying prayers that are littered with random thoughts, like what do I need to buy at the store later today and how can I get so and so to do such and such. 

Journaling can be considered a type of Closure. It's a way of recording, what stuck and what went through one eyeball and out the other as I read. In my past experiences, I have been more focused as I record my thinking. 

I have a ton of Closure templates that I've created to use in the classroom that I'm thinking that I will attempt to convert into more of a Bible Study/Quiet Time format that I hope to eventually make available to anyone who wants to use them. But for now, here's one. 

Here's a link that I think you'll be able to download a copy of this template if you're interested in using it. Quiet Time Journal #1. This is the first time that I'm attempting to link a PDF to my blog, so if it doesn't work, please let me know. Thanks.

If you're a Google user and you'd prefer to keep this digital - CLICK HERE to make your own copy of the template and save it to your Google Drive.

So let me know what methods, systems, strategies, techniques, you've used or are using to record your thinking as you study God's Word. If you have an idea for a template & you'd like help in creating it, let me know about that too. I'm not promising anything fancy, but it will be functional. 

Thanks and many blessings to you today!
Bethany

The abc's of #whyIwrite: adventure

Have you ever been on a ropes course? You know those obstacle courses made out of ropes and logs up, up in the air? I love them! I have had the opportunity to be a monkey on three different ones in three different countries. My third experience was in New Zealand. It was fun and nerve-wracking all at the same time. The picture below shows me finishing it off by repelling down the side of a drop off. 

@BethanyLigon (2006)

My second experience was in Austria. There were several challenging aspects to that one too, but the ending was my favorite part, ziplining across a small lake/big pond. With my shoes removed, my toes splashed across the water as I cruised through the air. 

My first ropes course, it by far, has been my most memorable experience. My heart raced the entire time as I maneuvered through the tree tops in Colorado. The way to get down was a more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. Imagine this: standing on a platform about 50 feet up in the air. The goal is to jump off the platform and grab a hold of a swinging trapeze bar that is 5-6 feet out in front of you. If that wasn't freaky enough, you then had to let go and just fall, while trusting that the ropes course dude would use his skills in repelling to stop you before you hit the ground. It was certainly an adventurous thrill!

Here's why I like these adventurous high in the sky obstacle courses:

• It's communal - You can't do it alone. In fact, you are dependent on others to help you get from station to station and down safely. But more than that, the awesome experience of having others cheer you along the way and being able to do that for others makes these adventures a lot of fun.
• It's a safe risk - Yes, you could fall, but you're not going to hit the ground. You're harnessed in and connected to a series of ropes. But still, knowing that there is some small possibility that something unexpected could happen certainly gets my heart pumping and my legs shaking.
• It's out of the ordinary - Like I said, I've only done 3 in my whole entire life! And the last time, in New Zealand, was already 10 years ago! 

I think of writing a blog, especially one that focuses my attention on what God is teaching me, is a lot like the adventure of hanging on to dear life on a ropes course. 

• It's communal - It's my way of connecting to others. I know that those who know me well will be cheering me on. And for other writers, I can encourage and support them on their journeys too.
• It's a safe risk - These days it's a bit risky putting your ideas out there for others to judge. You never quite know how someone might respond. But it's a relatively low risk because in the case of this blog, people are very kind. And what's even more, is that I kinda think that God has my back.
• It's out of the ordinary - Blogging is a time where I can sit still and reflect on what message God is trying to teach me. It's not work, chores, or even leisure, which is how a majority of my time is spent. It's time set especially aside to get ideas out of my head and onto a screen.

So thanks for going on this adventure with me! 

Blessings to you!

Bethany