Author: Kaitlyn Wright

Training Day 6 Filled With Him

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Psalm 46:8-11
Psalm 119:9-16
Isaiah 26:1-6
Romans 12:1-2

Training, Day 6

We live in a world full of noise.
In its midst, we all feel a desire for silence.

When I think of silence, I think of peace, rest, and tranquility. The world might direct us to seek these qualities through a form of meditation involving emptying one’s mind. This form of meditation has become more and more prevalent, but is this the way Christians should seek peace and rest?

The Bible clearly and emphatically answers, “No!”. Our goal as Christians is to seek silence with the Lord in order to fill our minds with truths about Him. Psalm 46:10 says “Stop fighting and know that I am God.” Other translations use the phrase, “Be still.” Be still and think about who God says He is in His Word; this is the holy, biblical way of meditation.

Psalm 119 gives us a clear understanding of Christian meditation:
“I will meditate on Your precepts and think about Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (Psalm 119:15-16)

While other forms of meditation attempt to lure us with false promises of peace if we empty our minds, God promises true peace when we practice His idea of filling our minds with God’s Word and delighting in His truth! Isaiah 26:3 promises, “You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.”

I can empathize in the struggle to find time for quiet study and reflection, prayer and meditation in God’s Word. I had been battling idleness and was immensely helped by reading C.S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters. If you are not familiar with this book, it is an allegorical series of letters written from an older, wiser demon mentoring his nephew, a novice demon, put in charge of keeping a young man away from God. The older demon writes, “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”

Yikes! Lewis’ words really convicted me of the idleness of my mind. It is never too late to start filling our minds with God’s Word. Pick up God’s Word, pray for guidance, and the Holy Spirit is faithful and able to reveal truth to us. (John 16:13)

When I actually make time, I’ve found reading and studying God’s Word to be a most satisfying endeavor. If I’m being honest though, spending time in prayer has often seemed tedious and even boring. I was ashamed to even admit that until I read Donald Whitney echo my thoughts in his book, Praying the Bible. He explained that if prayer feels dry and boring, we are doing it wrong! He encourages us to pray using God’s own words. I found it so beneficial to begin my time of prayer with reading a Psalm in prayer to God. Since I’ve begun this practice, my prayers have become much more saturated with Scripture and they are far from boring!

Finally, believing lies is a sure way to keep ourselves from quieting our hearts before the Lord in meditation and prayer. For the longest time, I believed I needed to pray the “right” words. So, I “hid” my “wrong” feelings from God, so as not to be irreverent. For example, if I felt anxious, I felt I had to deal with that before praying, because I knew my anxiety stemmed from not trusting in the Lord.

In truth, we cannot hide our feelings from God. I condemned myself for having “wrong” feelings, rather than being honest and submitting them to the Lord. God gave us feelings in order to point us to Him, not away from Him. If we pray like the Psalmist and cry out to God, in the midst of our fear and anxiety, He will change our hearts to be conformed to His!

What can you do today to make time to quiet yourself before the Lord? If you are a mom, can you load your littles up in a stroller and walk around the neighborhood and pray? (I put in my bluetooth earbuds so I can pray out loud without looking like a crazy person talking to myself!) If you work full-time, can you pray in your car while you’re on your lunch break? Praying out loud is not a requirement, but I’ve found it keeps me focused!

Sisters, let’s practice silence and holy meditation by filling our minds with God! Together with the apostle and teacher Paul, I pray for us:

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2, emphasis mine) Amen.

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Training Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Advent Day 1 The Arrival

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Isaiah 7:10-14
John 9:13-41
Mark 2:15-17
John 18:33-37
John 15:18-25

Advent, Day 1

I know, most people start at the beginning of the story.
Advent is really about “leading up to” the birth of Christ, right?

The word “advent” means “coming.”
But, here we are on December 6th, already at the fulfillment.

Jesus is here!
Angels are singing!
Mary holds a shivering infant’s divine skin next to her fallen flesh.
Here, as mama suckles Jesus, tears flowing for both of them, and a terrified Joseph stands in flushed awe, we see the gospel laid out.

This Jesus, this GOD, here with us.
Immanuel, God with us.
The Holy Righteous and Divine in the middle of our biggest mess.

When else has Love looked like this?!

In love, God ordained Jesus, truly man and truly God, to be born like any other person.
“Instead He emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant,
Taking on the likeness of humanity.” (Philippians 2:7)

Although His conception was a miracle by the Holy Spirit, Jesus grew in His mother’s womb and was born a helpless babe, the same as you and me.

God works in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4-5), and so Jesus was born in the days of Herod, a king who guarded his throne with jealousy and violence. As we will see later in this Journey Theme, Jesus’ coming was foretold by Old Testament prophets, and when Herod learned of those prophecies, he sought to kill Jesus as a potential rival king. (Matthew 2)

Yet, King Jesus didn’t come in splendor and glorious robes.
He came in humility, in a stable, wearing swaddling clothes.
This was the beginning of Jesus’ purpose to serve.
“[J]ust as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

From the beginning, Jesus confounded expectations for the long-awaited King of the World. Much of Jesus’ ministry on earth revealed a new, “upside-down” Kingdom understanding of knowledge, wisdom, service, and culture. He came to bring judgement on those who were right in their own eyes.

“I came into this world for judgement,
in order that those who do not see will see,
and those who do see will become blind.” (John 9:39)

Often, such judgement was addressed to the religious scholars of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees. These self-righteous, self-aggrandizing men added their own religious laws and heaped legalistic burdens on the Jews. In reality, they were blind and deaf to the Truth when He stood before them. (John 14:6) They thought they were going to heaven because they were ethnic Jews, God’s chosen people. But Jesus came to usher in a new covenant, available to anyone, Jew or Gentile, who would turn from sin and trust in Him.

“When Jesus heard this, He told them, ‘It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” (Mark 2:17)

Jesus Himself declared, “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37b) And the angel told Joseph, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

Jesus came to bear witness to the truth and to save his people from their sins. Nothing would stop Him from accomplishing His ministry. Before the foundation of the world, God set His plan of redemption in motion. Jesus was born to die, to speak the truth in love so those who listened to His voice and repented of their sin would be saved and bring glory to God.

Against the backdrop of our inky rebellion, God’s beautiful, holy love shines brilliantly, ready to rescue us from the brokenness of our sin.

Jesus came into a dark world as a bright shining light. (John 8:12) We are all born blinded by sin (Ephesians 2:3), but by His grace, He opens our eyes to see the light. Then it is our duty and delight to shine this light before others that they may see God’s glory for themselves. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Tragically, just as Jesus’ light was not welcomed by all, neither will His light in us be embraced by all. And just as Jesus was mocked, ridiculed, and ultimately murdered on a cross, we too will face persecution for carrying His light.

“Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” (John 15:20)

With the confidence of Christ, let us go forth boldly this Christmas season, shining His light and proclaiming His gospel, and not letting anything stop us from this ministry. Let us pray God would open the eyes of the unbelieving around us that they may have eyes to see the truth and light in Christ. Amen!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Advent Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Advent!

Fruitful Day 3 Lasting Joy

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Read His Words Before Ours!

John 15:9-17
2 Peter 1:1-8
Matthew 7:13-23
Psalm 16

Fruitful, Day 3

Happiness is a feeling, and as feelings go, they seem to change at the snap of a finger.
If you are like me, my feelings seem to be altered simply by the weather’s shift.

I’m no doctor, and I haven’t been diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder, but its description seems to fit the bill. Cloudy and overcast equals the blues. Sunshine and bright skies equal lifted spirits.

God’s Word offers a stabilizing anchor to my swinging tides of happiness in the richness of life-giving, always sustainable joy.

Unlike the emotion of happiness, joy is a fruit of the Spirit. This fruit grows over time as I daily surrender my life to Him and feast on His Word. I cannot do this in my own strength. There might be some benefit to ‘smile every hour to make yourself happier’, but this is not the fruit of lasting joy. One cannot simply “choose” to bear the fruit of joy. Rather, true and lasting joy is built through God’s character flourishing in our lives as we plant ourselves deep in the fertile soil of total surrender and dependence on Him.

“His (God’s) divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”
(2 Peter 1:3, emphasis mine)

When I am unhappy, there may be some hormonal or chemical imbalance, but largely, my unhappiness results from my lack of abiding in Scripture. All of God’s Word is true all the time. We must trust God’s Word above our feelings.

I want to shout with the Psalmist,
“You reveal the path of life to me;
in Your presence is abundant joy;
at Your right hand are eternal pleasures.”
(Psalm 16:11, emphasis mine)

Sisters, hear me, I need to shout that to myself even if, or especially when, I don’t necessarily feel joyful. When we don’t feel joyful, how can we align our hearts with the fruit God is surely working in us? In His presence.

In John 15:1-10, Jesus describes Himself as the Vine and His followers as the branches.
If we abide in Him, and follow Him in obedience,
then His Spirit is faithful to grow His own joy in us!

Jesus said of our insistent abiding in His presence and obedient following,
“I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) Abiding in God’s Word, talking with Him in prayer, and obeying His commands opens the floodgate for His joy to be built in us!

Similarly, Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

I’ve known and experienced the truth of these promises,
but I too often forget and go my own way.

I allow my feelings to dictate how I feel,
rather than the truth of God’s Word.

I will choose to binge watch TV, or neglect my Bible reading in exchange for more sleep rather than the eternal pleasure of God’s joy being built in me. No fleeting happiness will bring true, lasting joy. Temporary delights provide an adrenaline high to be sure, but are destined to crash and fall into the ever-lacking, supremely joyless reality of a life wrought by following my own way.

I would be lying if I told you there are no slivers of joy apart from Christ. The truth is that God graciously allows all people to experience portions of His joy in this life, but only believers in Christ can experience true, complete, lasting joy.

Maybe you feel tossed around by happiness or the lack thereof. Let’s take our cue from David’s confident song and Christ’s rich invitation, knowing the Holy Spirit will craft His joy in us as we surrender.

Let’s choose to abide with Him and receive the completeness of His joy.
Choose to believe God at His Word and find His joy that wins over feelings.
I can’t guarantee you’ll feel instant joy.

And I can’t guarantee that feeling of joy in abiding will stay with you when you wake up the next day. But we can rest on the assurance of Christ’s truth that when we abide, He grows His fruit of joy in us, regardless of how we feel from one snap of our fingers to the next.
We must preach truth to ourselves!

Christ, on the cross, substituted Himself in the place of sinners like you and me and He paid the penalty of death that our sin deserves.

He lived a perfect, sinless life despite hardship and persecution.
He did this, for the joy set before Him. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
That joy? It was the joy of bringing sinners home to be with Him forever in order to give glory and praise to God for all of eternity.

Lasting Joy

Christ knew that eternal joy would come through His sacrificial death. He achieved this joy by His victory over the grave and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. If we are in Christ, this joy is ours and His Spirit increasingly grows it within us.

Nothing, neither grief nor struggle, sickness or death can steal His lasting joy away.

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Can we pray for you?
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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Fruitful Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Fruitful!