Giving God your Best

Recently my youngest son hasn’t been sleeping as well as I’d like, so he is either taking a long time to get to bed, waking up in the night, or bursting into our room at 5am in the morning! Combined with not resting enough that has made me very tired, which is also why I haven’t been blogging a whole lot - as I don’t have the mental energy for it.

But it’s interesting to see the effect on my devotions. I keep a spiritual journal, to write down what God is teaching me as I read my Bible, and over the last couple of weeks there have been a lot of very short entries!

I have mainly been spending time with God in the afternoon because of kids getting up in the night making me get up too late in the morning. But this morning I actually managed to get up and read my Bible first thing and was so blessed. I covered a page and a half of my journal with notes from what I learned, where most days recently it has been a couple of lines. And it brought home to me what a difference it can make where you put your time with God in your schedule.

Because it is nearly always like that. If I do my devotions in the morning I usually get a lot more from reading, and manage to pray with more clarity. In the afternoon I feel quite exhausted from managing three small children and the house, and in the evening I’m even worse, so of course it has a knock on effect!

I am convinced that the key to living a victorious Christian life is spending good quality time with God daily – in His Word, and in prayer. Because the Bible is where we learn how He would have us live, and prayer is how we can depend on His power and strength. And what time you choose to read and pray can make a big difference to how well you do it.

I am not saying it should be in the morning (though I do think the morning is usually better!), but I think if you really want to live a life that is close to God and where you grow in faith and in knowledge of His will, then you need to find the best time, whenever that is. For different seasons of life it can change too – depending on what else is going on.

So I think we need to commit to giving God our best, making a daily appointment in our diary with Him for the best time in our day that we can. Also if it is possible to do it in the morning, by going to bed half an hour earlier or whatever else it takes, I believe it is far better because:

• We are more alert in the morning, having just slept and are then able to focus and learn better.
• We need to pray for help to meet the trials and temptations of the coming day.
• We are more able to fit it in elsewhere if we fail to keep the appointment in the morning than we are if it is later on in the day and we miss it.
• We are less likely to be interrupted because there is less going on first thing in the morning.
• We are less likely to get sidetracked because there is less to think about.
• We are then able to  meditate during the day on what we read in the morning.

Also there is Biblical support for it:

Jesus rose early to pray

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Mark 1:35

David prayed in the morning

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. Psalm 5:3

And then a quote from my hero, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who I never fail to read about without being inspired:

‘I feel it is far better to begin with God – to see His face first – to get my soul near Him before it is near another… If I have slept too long, or am going on an early journey, or my time is in any way shortened, it is best to dress hurriedly, and have a few minutes alone with God, than to give it up for lost. But in general, it is best to have at least one hour alone with God, before engaging in anything else.’

Having said all this we are also called to pray and meditate at all times during the day, not just one time. So we should try not to have our time with God and then forget Him the rest of the day!

5 Ways to Get More from Reading Books

'Reading maketh a full man; speaking, a ready man, writing, an exact man.' Francis Bacon

'The leader who intends to grow spiritually and intellectually will be reading constantly.' Oswald Sanders

Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments. 2 Tim 4:13

I know I've mentioned it before, but I am a bookworm! I devour good fiction books (like Jane Austen's and the Left Behind Series ) and get completely lost in them. I find it hard to put them down, and often when I do put them down I can't remember what day it is! Which is one of the reasons that I now don't read much fiction :)

However non-fiction books are a different ball game. I like to read Christian books in particular, and some, like biographies of missionaries, I zoom through fast and finish within a week. Others end up with a bookmark stuck a third of the way through for years on end.

I want to suggest five ways to help you gain more from books, and hopefully not end up with lots in the shelves with bookmarks in the middle!

1. Choose very carefully

I think it's better to have a few amazing and inspirational books that you can read over and over again, than lots of books that are not as good. So go for books that are recommended by people who are solid and godly Christians if possible. That way you are also less likely to get a bookmark stuck halfway through them too!

2. Underline

I always read non-fiction books with a pen in hand (my husband uses a highlighter) to underline what stands out to me. That way if you are searching for inspiration or looking for a good quote they are a lot easier to find. Plus you can go back over the underlinings and share them with other people.

3. Use some books as reference

I remember Roger Carswell, a British evangelist, persuading me to buy more books from his bookstall by telling me I could use them for reference - not that I needed much persuasion! There are some books that you may not want to buy because you think you could never get around to reading them, but if you can learn how to look things up in the Contents section, then they can be used when you need them.

A great example of this is my Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. I have never read all through it, but have often dipped into it to find out what the Bible says on various topics, and have even read whole chapters at different times.

4. Don't be afraid to skip a bit

The Pareto Principle is one I have only just learned in regard to books - it means that 20% of the book will probably give you 80% of what you get from it.

The best books are pure gold all the way through, and I wouldn't recommend you using that principle with those. But for others it can get you out of that part where you get stuck because you're really not interested, or don't need to know what that particular chapter says. Then you can allow yourself to skip it, and move on to the next chapter. Incidentally, I wouldn't do this with the Bible!

For example, I recently bought a book called 'Heaven at Home' by Ginger Plowman, thinking that it would be about keeping your home in a way that honours God. But I read the whole book, and most of it I had already read in other books, since it was about your relationship with God, your husband and children. Only the last chapter was specifically about the home, and that was the chapter that helped me. So if I had only read that chapter I would have got what I needed, without reading the rest!

 Again, I wouldn't do this with all books, as some just cry out to be read all the way through, but it is really good for those times when you would otherwise get stuck for months with a bookmark in the same place. And best of all it helps you to read more books!

5. Categorise them according to topic

When you want to help a friend with something, or find a quote that you remembered inspired you, it is pretty off-putting if the book you need could be anywhere in four different bookcases.

If you split them up and put them in topical order like in libraries, they are so much easier to find when you need them. And then the book keeps getting used, as you can go back to it again and again.

Here are the main categories I use for Christian books:

• Biography - the lives of missionaries or other Christians.
• Devotional - either books with a daily devotion, or books that are inspirational, or books on prayer
• Counselling and Practical help - I have a lot of Biblical counselling books because I have been taking a course on it, so I keep these all together.
• Women - books on being a wife, or specifically women related.
• Parenting - I have quite a few of these so keep them together.
• Evangelism and Apologetics - books on how to witness, or how to answer different questions about our faith.
• Bible study - this includes all my Study Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries and other reference.
• Books waiting to be read - I keep these separate because otherwise they get lost in the crowd. This shelf also inspires me to plug on through the books I am reading currently so that I can read more!

You can make more categories of course, these are just the ones I use.

I hope this helps you a little with your reading. And if you ever want a Christian book recommendation do let me know, as I love recommending books!

Why It’s OK for Christians to Make an Effort

For a few years now I have been increasingly bothered by something I have seen in Christianity – an underlying belief that it's bad to work at, strive, and make an effort to grow, or really do anything, as a Christian.

So when I was reading ‘Your God is Too Safe’ by Mark Buchanan and came across his explanation of this I had to share it. He is talking about cultivating holy habits as the way out of borderland, where you’re not really going anywhere. This is what he says:

‘Holy habits are not legalism. We are not trying to earn anything from God by being disciplined. He deosn’t love us more if we practice holy habits or love us less if we don’t. They’re not about that. They are, rather, about experiencing more and more the kingdom presence and power of Jesus Christ that is available right here, right now.

There is a key confusion in modern Christianity that greatly hinders us. We are overly prone to see legalism lurking behind every exhortation to strive and make an effort to be holy… but our confusion stems from a theological distinction we make that is simply not Biblical: we contrast grace with effort. We say, “I live under grace. I don’t need to strive, I don’t need to make an effort. I reject all that legalistic entrapment and rigmarole, that monkish rubbish.”

But grace and effort are not opposites. Grace and earning are opposites. Working for your salvation is heresy. Working out your salvation is basic Bible. Grace and effort are allies.’

Here are some of the examples he gave of scriptures that tell us that because God has already given us all things, we therefore must make every effort:

'Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.' Eph 4:3-6


'For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.' 2 Peter 1:5-7

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Rom 14:19


So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2 Peter 3:14


Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14

He goes on to talk about what our motivation should be for this effort and practice of holy habits, and I love how he narrows it down and simplifies it.

‘The goal of the disciplined life is love: to more and more live in and live out the two greatest commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, mind and soul, and love your neighbour as yourself. The touchstone of whether you’re rightly engaged with any discipline is to ask, “Is my love getting stronger, deeper, richer?” Something is wrong if you find that any discipline or habit you practice is making you arrogant, self-righteous, contemptuous, judgmental.’

Soooo... if I can try to summarise - It's OK to make an effort, in fact the Bible even tells us to make an effort to grow in holiness. 

The issue is what our motivation is. It shouldn't be to earn our salvation, because we can't. It shouldn't be to show off to others, because that is pride. It shouldn't be so that we don't feel guilty or to make God love us, because God already loves us, accepts us (if we have received Jesus as our Saviour) and has forgiven us. 

Instead it should be love - to love God and love others. And we show our love to God when we obey His commandments. 

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." John 14:21

And we must do all this in prayerful dependence on God, asking for His help and walking in the Spirit so that we will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh - otherwise we won't get very far!

Linking up to Faith Filled Fridays, Spiritual Sundays, Women Living Well and Winsome Wednesdays

Don’t Follow the Crowd

I went into our church’s crèche last week where they were teaching the story of Palm Sunday, and was shocked that it was only a week before Easter. I had never really thought about the fact that one day in Jesus’ life people were laying down carpets for him and cheering him:

And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' Mark 11:8,9

And less than a week later crowds in the same city were yelling for him to be killed:

But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!" Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!" Mark 15:11-14

It started me thinking – how easily we can be led, how quickly we can be deceived. And what really changed? Well Jesus didn’t change, but the people were swayed by what the Jewish leaders thought.

I still remember reading ‘Lord of the Flies’, where normal school boys end up killing each other because of the circumstances they are in, stranded on an island. And how so many people in Germany became influenced by Hitler’s ideals, and followed the crowd to go along with horribly unjust crimes of hatred.

We have to be so careful that we don’t just get pulled along by the majority to do wrong. In Jesus’ time even the Jewish leaders were crying out for Him to be crucified, so it wasn’t like they were supporting the wishes of common criminals.

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil Exodus 23:2

We can also easily succumb to settling for the same pace as Christians around us. But we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, and do what He wants us to do, not fix our eyes on others and do what they are doing.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:1,2

What can we do to help ourselves not be led the wrong way, or be influenced more than we should be by others? Here are some suggestions:

• Immerse yourself in the Bible – it is the word of God, so we can get His pure thoughts, not those of others around us
• Be careful what you read, watch and take in generally – even Christian books can pull us down if we read the wrong ones. I try to look for recommendations from Christians I respect and read those. Also reading books by or about radical Christians like Amy Carmichael and Hudson Taylor can help us keep pressing forward and not just go at the pace of those around us.
• Find friends who will encourage you and spur you on to greater things. ‘Iron sharpens iron’ – it is such a motivator to talk with friends who inspire you!
• Put pleasing and loving God as more important in your priorities than pleasing people. We can be put off a passionate life and even end up doing wrong because of worrying what people think. Just look at Peter who denied Jesus because he was afraid they would arrest him too. 

My dear friend Brooke has given me a great conclusion to this post! When Peter asked Jesus what would happen to John, Jesus said to Peter:

Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." John 21:22

I hope you have a wonderful Easter! I get to sing all my favourite songs :)

Linking up with Faith-filled Fridays and Spiritual Sundays.